"Getting older ain't for sissy's" says my dad. "Just wait til your my age" says my mom. "never" says me. I swore along time ago that there were certain things my parents said to me that i wouldn't say to my children. Oh well, i've said them. especially the wait til your my age. or wait til you have kids. Years ago, and i mean about 20 years ago, i didn't mine getting older. my early teen years were rough. and i hated school. so naturally i couldn't wait til i was out of my teens. then the 20's. 3 out of 4 kids were born. that was good. bad marriage, not so good. so i didn't mind turning 30. I had my last child when i was 30. that was good. ending bad marriage was good too. realizing a marriage ends never sits well even if you wanted it to end. you tend to wonder if you can raise the children as a single parent. and what will the future hold. but i can honestly say, the future got brighter. and with the help of my parents, the child raising went pretty smooth. Thanks mom and dad. late 30's met my wonderful husband, wayne. that was good. now i'm a year away from 40. and i'm not really looking forward to it.
I used to shake my head at my parents when they would talk of the aches and pains of "getting older". now it's my turn. and i'm sure my kids shake their heads at me.
I always thought that certain ailments were for women who were in their 50's. WRONG. almost a year ago, i started having nightsweats and hot flashes. WHAT IS THIS. 38 and menopause??? no way!! looked up symptoms of menopause. yes way. on the bright side.... like there's a bright side, better to get it over with. then a friend say's she's been going through it for 4 years or so. YUCK. then i read women can suffer for 10 years. NOOOOOOO!!!!!! sorry to say this is a part of life i cant do anything about. Mom says since she's been through menopause she doesn't have to shave her legs. Hmmmmm, there's a pro to this. no more shaving my legs. I can deal with that. and i've noticed, that i'm not shaving them as often. not because i feel lazy, who wants to shave every other day. it's because, not much there. now it's once every 2 weeks. the only other pro is, eventually, no more monthly visit's.
yesterday, i was talking to my cousin. and as she would brag, she's younger than me. by 10 months. and she is starting to go through menopause too. we trained stories of being hot one minute and cold the next. and i told her how i wake up in the middle of the night laying in a puddle. time to get the towel. and the other pain of this, which wayne hates as well. achy boobs. that needs to go away real soon. Then my cousin mention the other problem she's having. it's called the Mansfield Curse. and only the women in my family suffer from it. although i'm sure many women in the world have a similar curse. The Mansfield Curse is when us Mansfield women get older we expand. not it height {sorry mom and Amy} but width. our mid-section balloons out. and there's nothing you can do to stop it. anyway, my cousin complained that she's gaining weight. ( last i saw her, a couple months ago, she was a rail) actually, come to think of it she always was. quit complaining Heidi. she says her thighs and hips have added some weight. now most people would say, since she's so thin, your finally getting curves. BUT, me and her both know, it's the Mansfield Curse. hahahaha. oh, wait, Mansfield blood runs in my veins too. ugh. that would explain why my hips have grown a bit too. double ugh. I guess by the time we turn 50, we will look like our aunts. Which we used to laugh and say "look how big they are. Sorry Aunt Helen and Aunt Madeline. They couldn't help that they were cursed. They were Mansfield's after all.
I also always prided myself that i didn't have gray hair. my little sister {loving known as seester} has more gray than me. so does that same cousin who is 10 months younger than me. hahaha. the occasional strain would show up in mine. no big deal. until today. when my 11 year old daughter {who likes to brush my hair} says she found a couple. what??? and she's counting them. ok valerie, that's enough counting. wait til your my age.
to sum this up. getting old aint for sissies. however, i've decided today that i'm not getting old. i'm just growing up still. after all, i'm still young at heart.
Welcome to the old set. While all the things you said are true, there are some ups sides to getting older. Like seeing your children living their life with their children. Mom and I were lucky enough to have 3 kids. Times were not always easy money wise but there was always love enough to go around. You do the best you can and then the day comes when you have to let them go. You worry and hope you raised them right but it is their time to fly, so you send them off on their way. It is a proud moment but a sad one also. Because as each one leaves the home gets a little quieter and a little more empty. Then one day it happens, the last one leaves the nest and you are left all alone. Don't get me wrong, being alone is great. I think every parent waits for that moment of just the two of us. But there times as you walk around the house that it really seems empty and you will stop and look at a picture on the wall or at what use to be their old bedroom and for a time a tear may well up in your eye thinking about a time passed when, well you know. They may be gone from the home but at times they roam the halls and rooms of your mind and it's great. So don't worry about getting older. Take it from someone who will be 66 in a few weeks, it has some great times as well. Sit back, let it happen and just enjoy it. Love to my family, all of them.......
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daddy, i love you. reading this brought a tear to my eye.
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