Age is just a state of mind.
My birth certificate says I was born in '55, then again that is only a piece of paper...
I still eat Peanut Butter & Jelly and shoot BB Guns.
Try the Pineapple Jelly on a PB&J btw...
I inherited bad knees it seems, alway being active didn't help. Funny, been 13 years since I had that double knee surgery, and knees are better than ever. I wonder just how much trouble I could have gotten into back in my early days with the knees I have now.
Art , grampster, Barbara and a few others reminds me a lot of some of my Mentors. Oh yes I had plenty of ladies, as mentors as well. Some very much like Barbara and I guess that is why I probably read a bit more in what Barbara shares.
Mom is going to be 76 come Dec. Age and all taking its toll, and I keep speaking of attitude being a big part of staying healthy, and continuing on. I reminded her of how years ago she and some other ladies were discussing kids. Parents feeling "funny" about having kids the ages they were. Being the eldest, I suggested she just introduce me as her "nephew" and that way nobody had to know she had a 30 year old son.
She was 25 at the time I was born. 25 years difference in us and when I turned 25 she called " well, how does it feel to be 1/4 century old?"
'I feel fine, why don't tell me how I look from a 1/2 century perspective when you see me next"
Mom has never used that comparison again.
Funny thing is, she sees other folks kids, and "they look old and all" . Some folks trying to figure where I fit into the 4 kids they know mom had. The other sibs have gray hair, receding hairlines and all...I'm the guy with a pony tail and mustache and the only gray, was wee bit in my moustache. Made mom feel younger - pissed of the sibs big time.
Never acted my age, don't plan on it. When younger I had roles of older folks, - now older, I have no problem being younger roles.
The bunch I hang with , includes some kids of course, asked how long I have had a mustache. I said I quit shaving my upper lip when I was 20.
Kids break out pencil and paper, start doing the math...'Mom...his mustache in older than you!" Same bunch the kids made it known when out to eat, some could free and pointing at me "He is old you know" - and I got the senior discount applied to all our meal ticket. I don't care.
I might be out with one of the bunch, folks don't know if I am the daddy, robbed the cradle, some dirty old man, the brother , the uncle or , the grandpa to some of the kids. I do not care.
I got my hair trimmed, ponytail is gone, mustache trimmed shorter...
One of the ladies does sketches. I guess I was a model the first couple of times she sketched me, though she was sketching as I was doing something...She is younger than I btw...just on a whim doing a sketch of me assisting a kid shooting, messing with a dog, showing a kid how to cast a flyrod , or spinning reel...the fine art of using a cane pole...
Then I did different things, of different age groups. She snapped pictures in black and white...some she added powder to make my hair gray...we don't call it "modeling" - call it "piddling with pencil".
Sketches "show" a young long hair hippie on a Harley, Cowboy on a horse with a lever action and 1911, Some broken down old man, with a cane ...hair under a hat, ponytail, or hair all out and about over shoulders...
I actually went into a couple of stores like "the old man" - just to see if I could still pull it off. Had my lady friend that does these sketches. "Old Man" with a "granddaughter. Folks opening doors, getting me a basket. Never been offered the powered shopping cart before, I declined, still found it interesting some folks , total strangers will pick up your shopping list for a "old man" that drops it - off the floor- or "can I get something off that top shelf for you?"
At a few places I used a wheelchair, and had folks thanking me for my service - and I have never been in the military.
Few weeks later, she put on some "older style" clothes, makeup , did her hair in a certain style and added some gray to it. We headed out. Now folks "saw" a fella with older sister, older Aunt, older Sister-in-Law...
Age ain't got nothing to do with anything. Folks are going to see what they want to see, and believe what they want to believe.
Perceptions.
Sometimes when lady friend and I are out - she gets asked how hold I am. "Not a day over Fast Cars and Freedom" - she likes to reply.
My birth certificate might age - I am not planning on aging.