Perspective on this 65th Birthday
          I can remember thinking that I would never go gracefully into my older years. If you asked me how I would age when I was in my twenties, I would have told you I would go kicking and screaming. I believed I would have weekly appointments for the latest miracle treatment to be applied to my entire body, and I would be searching down the best plastic surgeons in town.
         The funny thing is, I can remember in my forties starting to see those smile lines permanently creasing my face, and I became fond of them. The furrow of my brow reminding me that I have survived raising children. My hands remind me of my mothers each time I look at them, and that makes me smile. You see my friends.......I have earned these creases and lines and bags and extra flaps of skin that have found their way onto my body. 
          I have found peace in my body that I spent all of my twenties hating and criticizing. This body and I have become friends, and I am forever amazed by its abilities. It has grown children within it, it has allowed me to serve as a nurse for twenty-five years, and it has kept me going even when I wasn't as kind as I should have been to it.
          So, on this birthday, I find myself embracing retirement from my nursing career and looking forward to a life of simplicity. I am excited for slow-moving mornings with a plate of sunny side up eggs and a whole cup of hot coffee while sitting across from my sweet husband.  I am gratefully aware of the blessing to have my husband by my side to enjoy this next adventure. May we always keep it sunny side up! 

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