"Age is Just a Number"...that reminds you how old you are

My paternal grandfather, Lawrence McNeeley, died in 1974 at the age of 69. I never knew him. My maternal grandfather, Ermine Doyle (Papa), died in 1964 at 74. That's an average of 71. My Dad, Richard, will turn 80 in December. So I should be good until about 80 or so (especially since I quit smoking in June). I'm 55 years, 9 months, and 5 days old, so I got a good shot of doing this for another 25 years. Now that's encouraging.

I don't know what it should be like, but I don't FEEL 55. Fifty-five sounds old. Just think about it. The double nickle. FIFTY-FIVE. I just sent in a check for an AARP membership. I look at the Dow Jones average and think about my 401(k). For goodness sake, my YOUNGER brother decided to retire from the National Guard today after 30 years in service! When you really start to think of it like this, it's a wonder I don't eat dinner at 5PM, wear those things that say they look and feel like "normal" underwear and keep my teeth in a glass.

Know what makes me feel good about my age? I'm twice as old as some of the folks I work with and I can run circles around them. I'm pretty good on computers because I had to learn how to work them before there was Graphic Interfaces and I had to know basic DOS commands (do you even know what that is?) just to get a program running. I've been through the "wild" phases of life, and the "responsible" parts, and now can find a happy middle ground. And in that vein, I have a couple of new phases coming up over the next decade to experience.I make a big deal of talking about feeling my age, but that's just a joke. The only real change in my attitude over the last, say, 30 years is I've gotten a little cynical, and to be honest, I don't like that! I wish I could still look at things at bit more naively. But that's the way it goes.

So, if asked, my advice to some of my younger friends would be pretty simple: Just do it! You stumble through, and, with your heart in the right place, you make the best choices and decisions you can, and hope for the best. If it doesn't work out exactly the way you wanted, mutter a curse and move on. You'll get another chance to make a better choice soon. Remember, you're only as old as you feel (so I must be 100).