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Well as you can see, I am getting older.  It is a part of life whether we like it or not.  I work part time on the ambulance.  I just love that job.  I have not written a book since my last book Plume of Fire.  We have had some changes in our days since Covid decided to join us in this world.  But we have to get on with life and take the good in any part of the day and hold on to that and enjoy the gift of life God has given us that day.  We cannot change yesterday, and we don't even know if we will be here tomorrow. But we do have today, and it is so important to make today the best day we can make it. To those of you who have read any of my books, I want to say thank you and I hope you have enjoyed the words I put down on paper.  I do plan to sit and write a book again sometime this year. But I have not been on here a while, and I just thought I needed to say hi again and tell you I am still here. 

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​I was watching a TV sitcom called ‘Frasier’.   I use to watch it years ago in my younger days.  I decided to start it from the first one.  It was about how his dad fell in the bathroom again and no one was there to help him.  So, his two boys Frasier and Niles decided that dad was not able to live alone.  The looked through brochures of nursing homes, but decided that he was too young for that. The hard question was, where was dad going to live or with whom.   It was decided that Frasier would take him in. Niles was married at the time and dad didn’t get alone with Marist. 
 
This in a way hit home, to where I am at in my life at this time.  My son needs help with his children and he is moving in with us.  I got hooked.
 
It goes on with dad bringing in his favorite chair.  A little back ground on these two.  Frasier has a doctorate in psychology, and dad has been a cop for 30 years, until the bullet hit him in the hip leaving him crippled. 
 
Frasier has a beautiful home, expensive.  Dad brought them up on policemen’s salary.  There worlds are totally different.  When dad brought in his chair that was actually mended with duct tape, this drives Frasier crazy. 
 
So, the first thought I had was we have to be very tolerant of others as we grow old gracefully.  We need to try and not be so blinded by what we want, but be happy for what we have. Frasier had to give in, in order to have his dad be happy to live with him, and accept that old taped up chair amongst his beautiful furniture.
 
The second show, Frasier got up in the morning, to find the new nurse aid they hired to help take care of dad, in the house. He forgot that he had to give up his study and make her a room to live in. The place where he likes to read and be alone with his thoughts. Now it belonged to the nurse aid. He forgot that the old taped chair was in the living room. He imagined he dreamed this.  
 
Here at my house, we took my office, where I would sit and write books, which was a loft, and put-up walls so that the kids could have a playroom.  My bedroom now looks like a dorm.
 
It was when he noticed his routine was changed that made him blow up and see reality as it really is.  People were in his house making breakfast. His news paper was already read before he even woke up.
 
He did let them know that he needs his routine, wake up in the morning, coffee and yogurt for breakfast. His paper by the front door with the rubber band still on it. This is how he enjoys starting his day.
 
They let him know that he will get use to the change. That this is a change for all of them, not just him, and it may take a couple of years but they will all be better for it.
 
So maybe getting old gracefully is not wanting or looking for a special way to imagine how you want your life, but to appreciate what you already have. 
 

What are you passionate about in life?  What turns you on. lol  I mean when you were growing up in your twenties, what made you excited to get up in the morning? 
 
   For some people it is their job, or families, or a special hobby. Mine is children.  Yes, I am crazy.  So, when I met my husband, I never thought about having children. I grew up with five other siblings and I was the oldest and always babysitting.  So of course, kids never entered my mind.  At the lovely age of twenty-two, I had my first child.  I was never so in love after I held her.  I hated labor and delivery and decided I would never have another child again, but I didn’t want her to be a lonely child so I went through it again.           Then I was hooked.  I had seven pregnancies and I have five live children.  My mother-in-law kept telling me to have my tubes tied, that this was not fair to my husband to have to support so many kids.  But my response was I was going to have as many as God will give me.
     Well, when I lost my last baby, he died in the womb, I took it real hard. My husband decided to get snipped and my baby days were over.  So, life went on, and I enjoyed my five precious children.  Of course, we had good times and bad times, like all parents do with kids, but the good out weighed the bad. 
    Going through empty nest was very hard for me.  Lucky for me, that is when we decided to take care of my father-in -law.  He had Alzheimer’s, and we lived with him, and later moved him with us.  When he died, I had my last child in high school.
    Through the years the couple of kids that live by me, I had the wonderful opportunity to watch their kids on my days off of work.  I think kids keep me young and alive. But they are growing and times are changing to what they think fun is anymore. And it is usually with a friend, not grandma’s house anymore, not like it use to be and the way it should be. My nights have become eating dinner and watching TV show after TV show. Boring.
    My son is moving in with us and he has three children.  This past week the movers showed up and my house has been cluttered with boxes. We had carpeting stripped off floors, and tile put in, painted walls and even new toilets.  Watching the rooms grow into bedrooms for the kids is amazing.  The play room is coming along with VCR tapes, yep you heard my right, and books and toys. 
    Through all of this I am finding myself getting excited again.  I feel the life that I have lost coming back.  I know I am crazy but I am getting excited to hear voices of my grandkids in the house. I feel like the old Marie will come back out. The one who was young and alive when playing with her own children at one time.
     The one that was  spontaneous and full of laughter.
    So, I guess, I am saying you have to find that light that use to shine in you when you were younger, before old age took you over, and beat it. You have to find what keeps you alive and I believe that is a way to grow old gracefully.
 

As I was talking to a friend, she let me know how bored she was.  She is only a couple of years younger than I am. She lives with a male friend, yes, only a friend, they live at different sides of the house and share the kitchen.  She has children and grandchildren, but she feels like she lives alone. 
 
I love to walk my neighborhood, and see all the elderly people sitting on their front porches.  They wave hello and are so eager to talk to anyone who will listen. One of my neighbors invited me inside her home.  It looked like something out of a magazine. Nothing was out of place and fragile pieces were out and about the room.  I was afraid to touch or even sit down anywhere.
 
As we talked, I asked her about her grandchildren.  She told me she doesn’t see them too often. But with the next breath she also told me that they are not allowed into most of the rooms of the house because they may break something.
 
My husband was sitting on the couch watching TV a couple of weeks ago, and I asked him to go out with me for a walk.  Of course, he said no.  I asked him to go out on a bike ride.  He refused that offer also.  Then out of the clear blue sky he told me he was bored, so bored, he was bored with himself and just didn’t feel like doing anything.
 
Maybe getting old gracefully, is to not get bored.  To enjoy life.  To take each day as a special day.  To remember that life is a gift and we are not guaranteed tomorrow.  So instead of sitting in front of the TV all day, go out and enjoy this life God has given you.  Maybe not make your house so intact that you are afraid that someone will break something but make your house homey and enjoyable.

Enjoy your family or friends, because the older we get the closer we are to dying. So let’s go with a boom, and enjoy what life we have left.
​
What are your thoughts on this matter?