Aging and Changing

I'm no fighting age, I'm trying to make it work for me. In his book, To Bless the Space Between Us, Irish priest and poet describes age as a time of "gracious harvesting." I'm harvesting the seeds I've sown and continuing to do what I love to do. My 37th book, The Grandma Force, comes out next fall.

Thanks Parus. Sounds like you and I are chugging along.

@jshdma I apologize if my accepting sounded like giving up/in. I have accepted there are things I can no longer do. Narian on giving up. I have found new ways to do things as I am not a quitter nor are you. Thank for the opportunity to clarify.

It strike me that you ARE righting. Accepting would be more like the rocking chair, playing golf or going fishing. But I do disagree with the concept of "gracious harvesting." "Gracious" is for Emily Post, not for accomplishing things.

@parus - A relative of mine who was a doctor told me that the "golden" years are not golden at all. Reality is that if you are fortunate enough not to have died young or contracted some chronic disease at an earlier age, it all waits for you in old age. Many people affirm the benefit of acceptance. My instinct tells me to fight and not accept, as much as you can. Did we accept bad things in all the previous years? Bad grades? A bad job? Domestic violence? Not if there is any chance of resisting and not giving in.

@jshdma You keep that fighting spirit and I do not even own a rocking chair. Who is Emily Post? Is she a contemporary poet?

@jshdma
Good Morning!
That doctor is something else!
I believe there is a difference between accepting getting older and giving in to getting older.
I accept that I am getting older but I am not giving into it.
I am fighting as hard as possible without going over the edge and doing things that can be harmful to me or others.
Giving into things is not always a bad thing.
Your break a leg and you need to rest your leg. The rest of your body feels great and you want to go out.
You need to give into the fact that if you don't rest your leg, you can develop more issues before doing things before your leg is ready.

Ronnie
GRANDMAr

@parus Hah! Emily Post wrote a (famous?) book on etiquette / good manners a long time ago, in an age that valued such things. (nothing personal-- obviously public manners are completely degraded). I just meant that serious work has little to do with the superficial.

I identify with "gracious harvesting" because I've lived it. In 2007 my daughter, mother of my twin grandkids, died from the injuries she received in a car crash. Six months later the twins' father died from the injuries he received in another crash. The court appointed my husband and me as the twins' guardians, and we did this for seven years. We got them through high school and college. Both of the twins graduated with honors and Phi Beta Kappa. Today, my grandson is a junior at The Mayo Clinic School of Medicine. My granddaughter is married to a minister, an independent photographer, and participant in the foster children program. For me, their achievements are gracious harvesting.