I recently read a funny story...

An elderly couple has dinner at another couple’s house, and after eating, the wives leave the table and go into the kitchen. The two gentlemen were talking, and one says, ‘Last night we went out to a new restaurant and it was really great. I would recommend it very highly.’

The other man asks, ‘What is the name of the restaurant?’

The first man thinks and thinks and finally asks, ‘What is the name of that flower you give to someone you love? You know…the one that’s red and has thorns.’

‘Do you mean a rose?’

‘Yes, that’s the one,’ replied the man. He then turns towards the kitchen and yells, ‘Rose, what’s the name of that restaurant we went to last night?’

I think the reason this is funny is that most of us can relate.

I’ve read that the average person over the age of 35 loses 100,000 brain cells a day.

I’m 57! I’m not very good at math, but that’s a lot of brain cells. AND, I’m not even sure how many I started out with. Add that to the fact that I’m fairly certain the word “average” may not apply to me and I’m in big trouble. Perhaps you are, too!

I see it in the little things.

For example, I have reading glasses strategically placed in every room of the house. In spite of this, I somehow still spend hours looking for them only to realize they’re on top of my head. I also have different ‘reading’ glasses for different things. This lends itself to my walking around with multiple glasses on my head and sometimes forgetting and going out that way.

Just last week I went out to my car to go somewhere, realized I didn’t have my phone, and went back into the house. Couldn’t find my phone anywhere in the house, went back out to my car to see if it fell out of my purse. Couldn’t find it anywhere in the car or my purse, went back into the house, and realized it was in my back pocket. I’d forgotten I put it there.

I’ve used the word twice now. Have you noticed? It’s the “f-word”.

I do the “f-word” frequently, always have. Sometimes multiple times in an hour. Before you get offended or are amazed at my prowess, the “f-word” I’m referring to is “forget”. This is not really a sign of aging for me. As I said, I’ve always been this way. On the upside, if I ever do get dementia, the world may never know.

There are a few favorites of aging that are only enjoyed by women.

Underarm dingle ~ As women, almost all of us have had that incredible experience of waving  and watching our underarms wave back. It’s an interesting phenomenon that could, if the dingle droops low enough, be dangerous.

Mental Pause ~  A personal favorite of mine. That wonderful time of life when we don’t know if we’re hot or cold, coming or going, happy or sad, and we can be all of those things within a 5 minute period of time. I think it’s amazing! No, I don’t. Well, maybe…just give me a minute and let me think.

Overall, most people over the age of 40 can relate to some or all of this. This is life. Like the old bridge in this picture, we may be worn and slightly rusted, but age has done something to us. It makes us better in some way. Some of us are more sure of ourselves, some of us are wiser, and some of us look better with age.  I’m thinking by the time I’m 90, I’ll be a confident, gorgeous, genius.

But, all in all, it’s really ‘not that big a deal’!

As always, all photographs are courtesy of my brother, Paul. You can find all of his pictures at nuhorizondesign.com