Being Old

By Diane Forrest

Age-Activated Attention Deficit Disorder.

This is how it manifests:

I decide to water my garden.

As I turn on the hose in the driveway,

I look over at my car and decide it needs washing.

As I start toward the garage,

I notice mail on the porch table that

I brought up from the mail box earlier.

I decide to go through the mail before I wash the car.

I lay my car keys on the table,

Put the junk mail in the garbage can under the table,

And notice that the can is full.

So, I decide to put the bills back

On the table and take out the garbage first...

But then I think,

Since I'm going to be near the mailbox

When I take out the garbage anyway,

I may as well pay the bills first.

I take my checkbook off the table,

And see that there is only one check left

My extra checks are in

my desk in the study,

So I go inside the house to my desk where

I find the can of Pepsi I'd been drinking.

I'm going to look for my checks,

But first I need to push the Pepsi aside

So that I don't accidentally knock it over.

The Pepsi is getting warm,

And I decide to put it in the refrigerator to keep it cold.

As I head toward the

kitchen with the Pepsi,

A vase of flowers on the counter

Catches my eye--they need water.

I put the Pepsi on the counter and

Discover my reading glasses that

I've been searching for all morning.

I decide I better put them back on my desk,

But first I'm going to water the flowers.

I set the glasses back

down on the counter ,

Fill a container with water and suddenly spot the TV remote.

Someone left it on the kitchen table.

I realize that tonight when we go to watch TV,

I'll be looking for the remote,

But I won't remember that it's on the kitchen table,

So I decide to put it back in the den where it belongs,

But first I'll water the flowers.

I pour some water in

the flowers,

But quite a bit of it spills on the floor.

So, I set the remote back on the table,

Get some towels and wipe up the spill.

Then, I head down the hall trying to

Remember what I was planning to do.

At the end of the day:

The car isn't washed,

The bills aren't paid,

There is a warm can of

Pepsi sitting on the counter,

The flowers don't have enough water,

There is still only 1 check in my checkbook,

I can't find the remote,

I can't find my glasses,

And I don't remember what I did with the car keys.

Then, when I try to figure out why nothing got done today,

I'm really baffled because I know I was busy all day,

And I'm really tired.

As you age you find yourself being the punch line to many jokes, many are true. However to me you can benefit from the aging process.  I have a friend who is in his 70's.  He is constantly reminding me that he is old.  While he may have advanced years, he is not Old.  He thinks young, stays active, is always learning something new, and he takes excellent care of himself and follows his doctor's orders most of the time.

As  you get older you may find yourself having a few aches or pains, some gray hair, and those phone books start using smaller print, but if you think young, and keep learning and doing, then age is just a state of mind.