It was my birthday the other day – the third in my eighth decade. (That\u2019s 73 if you do the math.) It\u2019s like erecting a pyramid, this aging process. You build it one year at a time, one layer at a time. Each successive level is slightly smaller making it go by quicker. When you get to my age, old coot age, a year is super short, just the opposite of when you\u2019re closer to the base of your age pyramid. A mother says to her five-year-old at Thanksgiving, \u201cChristmas is coming; only four more weeks!\u201d It seems like an eternity to the kid, but for the mother, it\u2019s rushing toward her like a speeding bullet. It all depends on where you are on your pyramid.<\/p>\n
Now that I\u2019m near the top of mine, a year zooms by so fast I hardly notice it. I just hope my pyramid has a pointy top like the ones in Egypt and not a flat top like a Mayan one, where the last level comes to you sooner than you anticipated.<\/p>\n
When a young guy stumbles upon an old coot celebrating a birthday, he kind of snickers and wonders how the old guy can stand it, being so ancient. Like it\u2019s our fault, like we have a choice. But, the joke\u2019s on him; it\u2019s great to be celebrating a birthday with a five, six, seven, eight or nine as the first number. Why? Because it truly does get better every year; it doesn\u2019t matter how many candles are crowding the top of our birthday cake pyramid.<\/p>\n
Oh sure, we\u2019ve amassed a legion of afflictions and physical deficiencies. But, we\u2019ve dealt with them and for the most part don\u2019t feel any different than when we were young. (Most of us. Most of the time.) Ask an old coot how it feels to be 60, 70, 80 or whatever, and he\u2019ll likely say, \u201cI don\u2019t really know. I don\u2019t feel any different than I did when I was in my thirties.\u201d (The human memory is kind to us as we age.)<\/p>\n
But it\u2019s true. We have a whole pyramid of life experiences to reflect on, to bask in. And, not just the great moments, even the bad ones take on a positive note. We survived! We overcame! We learned to accept the hand dealt us. And, of course, the passage of time deadens the pain.<\/p>\n
So, when you see an old coot ticking off a high numbered birthday, don\u2019t feel sorry for him. He\u2019s not wallowing in self-pity because he reached another milestone; he\u2019s thrilled, and wouldn\u2019t trade ages with you for anything. Don\u2019t believe me? You will. It\u2019s just a matter of time.<\/p>\n
Comments, complaints? – Send to mlessler7@gmail.com.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It was my birthday the other day – the third in my eighth decade. (That\u2019s 73 if you do the math.) It\u2019s like erecting a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47395","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-editorial"],"yoast_head":"\n