Reflections On Turning 57

1. I look exactly like my mother. And she's 83.

2. I'm losing my reserve and inhibition. I don't care as much if my hair is unkempt or my stomach sticks out.
3. I'm less tolerant of idiots. Very dismissive lately.
4. I crave solitude more and more.
5. I eat less but weigh the same. I'll bet I don't average 1500 calories a day and only lose weight when I don't eat at all for a couple of days.
6. I'm becoming a tightwad. I worked too hard for that money.
7. I think about old friends all the time. Look up people on the internet. Try to make contact again, sometimes after a decade or two. What's up with THAT?
8. I no longer fear getting old. There are a few old people here (old is over 80) at the RV park, and they look happy. And respected...
9. I still hate that you have to let your kids and grandkids learn from their own mistakes. Dumb rule.
10. I listen more. To wind, to birds, to the ocean, to kids playing.

Just this year, I've begun to count my blessings instead of wishing for something more. I feel I'm where I was meant to be (Kino, our casita) and more days than not am utterly content to be where I am and doing what I'm doing: usually nothing. I think I'm less distressed at missing the grandkids so much, in that when we DO return in the spring, it will feel like I can give them the best part of me BECAUSE of my time here.