By Debbie Meehan

After having a lovely lunch the other day with two of my favorite Veterans, WWII Veteran Jack McGreevey and John Eberhardt, I ran into a woman I hadn’t seen in quite some time while walking out of the diner. As we began to talk she mentioned to me it was her birthday. When I smiled and wished her a happy birthday she went on and on about how she hated birthdays and growing old was horrible. How her weight was creeping up on her, how her face was full of wrinkles, her body ached and she felt like her mind wasn’t as sharp anymore, she was forgetting everything and so on and so on … I think she was in her late forties. As I got into my car I said out loud what I wanted to say to her, “Thank God you’re growing old.”

It makes me crazy when people say growing old is horrible (family paper so won’t use their exact phrases) because what is the alternative? Life must go on and if you want to continue to live, basically you have to grow old.

I wish I could have taken that woman and placed her in my car and journeyed her back through the past couple of weeks and show her some of the people I saw that would love to have just one more birthday to celebrate, fighting with all the strength inside of them to live so they can grow old and those who love their golden years.

First together we would walk past a grieving mother who lost her daughter from an overdose of drugs and I would have had her compare her wrinkles to that of this young girl’s, it would be hard for her to find them though, because when you die at 22, you don’t have wrinkles yet.

Then we would visit a young mom in the hospital who is fighting with every breath she has for just one more day to be with her family, there she can compare her aches and pains with that of a woman whose aches and pains never subside. She could also reconsider that thought about the couple of extra pounds she put on when she sees her frail body that has now wasted away to skin and bones, her cancer, making it impossible to “put on an extra couple of pounds.”

After that we would stop in at the Evergreen Senior Center. The room is filled with life and everyone’s dressed in red for their Valentine’s Day party. There is singing and laughter, dancing and friendship and for some reason I don’t think today any of my senior friends are worried about a wrinkle. For today they have too much to do, too much life in them yet, and if they are worried about anything it’s about too many tables stretching onto the dance floor and they won’t have enough room to dance. Getting old is horrible…don’t tell them that because these seniors don’t know what age is and another birthday…bring it on, it will be just another reason for them to have a party.

Lastly, I would bring her back to the diner we left. I would let her join me and my two Veteran friends for lunch. Sad to think this forty something year old woman thinks her mind isn’t sharp and can’t remember things any more, (maybe to enhance ones mind you must rid it of the negativity that fills it and then you can think clearer). My friend Jack is 91 and his mind is still sharp with memories from the past. When I join these gentlemen for lunch every couple of months our conversation is that of days gone by, of people that they have met, places they have seen and things they still need to do. The stories they tell are filled with such detail it’s as if they lived them yesterday. Jack still puts on his suit every day and goes to work because there is no stopping him, there are older veterans that need help and new ones coming back from overseas that need direction, there is still so much work and living he feels he needs to do. Do not tell him he is old, for his face, lined with beautiful wrinkles that reflect the wisdom and grace he has gained through life, will certainly laugh right at you.

My point is age is a matter of mind. You can be old at forty or you can be young at ninety, the choice is yours. But keep in mind some people don’t have that choice and they would take every one of your wrinkles to grow another year older. Beauty grows from inside you and age can never reverse the beauty of ones soul with a wrinkle.

So this year when it’s time to celebrate your birthday, have a party, thank God for another year of life with your friends and family and if you need help blowing out the candles…just take your cake over to the Evergreen Senior Center for the breath of life in that group will have no trouble helping you blow those candles out. As they say life is about the breaths we take so keep breathing and keep living because life is so precious, enjoy every moment of it!