Let me call you sweetheart! Tuesday, July 19, 2016

Let me tell you about John and Ella. I have no idea if those are their names, but for the purposes of my first "gettin' old" blog post, John and Ella they are . . .
Yesterday, I took a walk - my first of 132 (more on that later). I followed the Bedford Basin boardwalk and Shore Dr into the village proper, did a bit of window shopping, sipped on a 'green machine' smoothie at Pete's, and retraced my steps to Mill Cove. It was a "walk perfect" kind of day. The sky was overcast, but the air was silky and the breeze coming off the water reminded me that I love the smell and the feel of salt. As I reached DeWolfe Park I glanced ahead on the path and looked right into my future. They were so in sync. She was walking with a cane in her right hand, and her left was comfortably on his back, tucked securely into his hand. They looked like a pair of dancers, poised to spin away and back again. I wanted to take their picture, but couldn't bring myself to intrude on their intimacy with my phone. Instead, I took the photo with my heart, I think a much better camera.
Just a moment in time, just a glance at strangers on a path, but so much more. A heart-filling reminder that love, health, marriage, and life need daily nurturing to ripen to juicy old age!
And so my journey begins . . . or really continues, I suppose. Time to make solid my vague intentions and efforts toward a truly well-lived life. Time to think about John and Ella, and how I want that to be us someday (minus the spinning - been there, earned the bruises). Time to take little steps, big steps, hell, any steps  - and to express gratitude that I am able to take each and every one of them.
I have often heard the phrase, "Getting older is not for sissies", and the implied pessimism always bothered me a bit. So, I think I will erase it and replace it with this one - "Getting older is an adventure. Let's revel in it!"