Old Age Comith – Old Age Has Arrived!

*By Pamela Stoker Brander Myers  Written:2010-08-16    Updated Feb 2017

Old Age Comith    Old Age Has Arrived!

I find myself looking at some things through a new light this morning.  I suddenly realized that I do a lot of that lately.  Seems as though it’s a necessary metal exercise needed to combat old age!

It’s sort of like buying your favorite sweater in a brand new color. Feels better because it is new!  Looks different, even though it is the same old sweater.  Well, sort of like that..

This morning I was lying in bed, thinking about getting up.  I looked at our 7 lb toy poodle, Lil-Lea and she looked unusually adorable. She is a light that puts a smile on both, my husbands face and mine, continuously.  No matter what the problem, or how we feel, all we have to do is look at this sweet little darling with her warm, gentle little personality and we melt like ice in the hot sun.

Looking at Lil-Lea this morning, caused one of those warm, exited feelings one gets when beginning a new relationship, or purchasing something fantastic at the store.  It was a very enjoyable feeling, but a bit strange, since we have had our little girl since 2006.

As I lazily remained in the reclined position, I also savored the exquisite comfort of our wonderful plush mattress, which we had purchased a few years ago, and I began to wonder if I could imitate these same, positive, like-new feelings, with other things.  Maybe with situations also.  Now, that  was food for thought!

I have to say that all these positive, like-new thoughts running around in my head, certainly made my getting out of bed a lot more interesting this morning, rather then my usual,  “Oh, well, I guess, I had better get up and do Something today! “ Please read previous line again, and insert a huge, deep breathe sigh, at end of sentence.

It’s not that I am a bored person, or a lazy person, or even a negative person. None of these would describe my personality at all.  I am just an old person!  I look old, I feel old and, if I should ever chance to forget that most annoying, frustrating fact, my body will quickly remind me, as it seems to have my brain on speed dial, least I forget for a single moment, that I can no longer do that, which I am intending to accomplish.

Unfortunately, my body, having my brain on speed dial, is never satisfied to just alert me, in the moment, about that for which I can no longer do.  No, it has to take it one step further! It waits until the next day, to painfully prove to me that, I am old, and I can no longer perform those menial tasks which, I so loved to do, such as cleaning my whole house in one day! Now, I can’t even vacuum two rooms in the same day!  Well, I could! But, those of you who are old, like me, know that we are slowly being enlightened, to the reality, that this is not a good idea!  At least, not if we want to get up and walk in an upright position for the next few days.

So, I am now reduced to doing everything in a series of sections.  I call it the, sit and wait activity.  I work a bit, like vacuum a small area, and then, I sit and wait!  “Wait for what“, you may ask?  I wait to recover from the 15 minutes, or less, that my body allowed me to perform the task of vacuuming my carpet in the library, before it said,  “Stop, you’re done now.  Go, sit and wait, and then I will allow you to go back and do some more later.”

So, each day, as I set out to accomplish my daily tasks, I always have to bow down to, the sit and wait. Sometimes I feel like I am playing *musical chairs!  Do you all remember that game?  I remember the fight to get my butt firmly planted into the chair, before, the other person, who was also attempting to do the same! This day to day struggle of trying to accomplish my daily household tasks reminds me of that! Sometimes I envision that if I hurry up, by moving faster, I can get it done before my body gives out. Not !  I just end up having to quit sooner and get less done.

I don’t want to have to stop what I am doing, and enjoying, by the way, to have to bow down to, stop and wait, all day long.  It takes triple the time to accomplish what I want to do in a day, to have to do this over and over again!    But, what choice do us old people have?  Personally, I want to throw a huge temper tantrum, scare the bejeebers out of my bodies speed dial brain connection, get my own way, and change all this old age stuff.  Guess that will never happen!

I hear of, and have seen, these ancient old people, well, compared to me anyway, who are, “leading an active life”!  Hmm, active life!  Let’s see now, what does that actually mean? I see it advertised on TV all the time too! It usually shows someone who is over 70, perhaps even 80, in beach attire, with the wind blowing in their hair, on a beach somewhere, with the love of their life walking along side them. They both have big smiles on their faces, as if they just won the lottery!  A yacht is surfing on the waves, in the background, and the family dog is running on the beach in front of them, chasing the stick one of them just threw. (Ouch, I can‘t even throw darts at a dart board any more). They point to a person up in the air, who is wind-sailing as though they could even think they can do that!  NOT!

Coming back down to real life here, for me, the Real Life old person, I have to say that just gathering up the energy to get dressed, to go out anywhere, is a tiring thought! If we decided to go to the beach, which is only minutes away, by the time we gathered all the items we needed for a day on the beach, loaded them into the car, and actually got there, unloaded them, and dragged them all in the wheeled cart, down to the water side, we would probably both collapse, and be too exhausted to swim!  Just the thought of all that preparation, wears me out.

Then, let’s not forget the prospect of enjoying a fine meal, at one of our favorite restaurants!  Many times hubby and I say, lets go out to lunch today.  I say day, because by dinner time, we are way too tired to even make an attempt to go out!  We then look at each other, and wish we could snap our fingers, and a fully prepared meal would just show up on our kitchen table, or that we would be instantly transported, fully dressed to the restaurant of our choice. Half the time we never get out the door, even for lunch! After hubby has worked all week, and I have worked all day, and all week, neither of us has any umph left, even on week ends. We need rest!

These days, if we can’t micro wave it, cook it in our toaster oven, or outdoor grill it, we don’t cook it.  In the winter months I do some heavier cooking, so we can enjoy some of our favorite dishes, but that is the extent of that.

While I was doing my, Sitting and Waiting, one day, I had one of these new-positive thoughts!  We have two extra rooms on the other end of our home, sectioned off with a door for privacy.  We rent one room to a great tenant, who has been with us now for several years.  I just told my husband, that I am going to rent the other one, some day, to a person who can cook, and clean in exchange for the room!

Hmm, now there is a new positive thought, to wake up with every morning!  I really have to sit and think, while I sit and wait, about that extremely great new thought, and all the possibilities….such as them also packing up the car for the beach!  Wow, now there’s a thought!

*Pamela Stoker Brander Myers is retired, and is a free lance writer. She is related to Bram Stoker. Pamela lives in Virginia Beach, VA with her husband and their fur kid, 7lb toy poodle. Lil-Lea Diva Myers

NOTE:I wrote this  2010-08-16  when we lived in Chesapeake, Va and Sammy and Kali were still with us. They have both since passed. We now live in Virginia Beach as of November 2012, where we have purchased a home and we hope to remain here in this home.

We are still here in Virginia Beach in our home we bought in 2013. It is now February 2017.