I don’t mind birthdays. It’s the
part about getting older that I don’t like.
Some of you may know that it’s my
birthday today, and I guess I’m okay with that. I don’t expect
people to make a big deal out of it; it’s nothing more than the
anniversary of me finally relieving my mother of the burden of
carrying me around for ten months. If anything, she’s the one who
deserves the honors today, since I wasn’t born until a month after
my due date, and this was the day she was finally relieved of that
misery.
So thanks for the extra 30 days, Mom!!
But whenever you have a birthday you’re
forced to confront the fact that you’re getting older, and if
there’s one thing you might have learned by reading this ramblings
over the past decade and a half, it’s that members of the Koski family don’t
like to confront the fact that there’s nothing you can do about
getting older. It just happens, whether you want it to or not.
Who do we see about changing that, by
the way?
As I’ve gotten older I’ve noticed,
despite my best efforts, more and more signs popping up reminding me
of that fact that I am indeed getting on in years. Of course, the
latest had to pop up on Sunday, right as I was about to celebrate
another birthday. I finished working out and was about to read the
newspaper (yes, another one of those signs that I’m “old”) and
I noticed that I couldn’t quite make out the print on the page,
which I found odd, because I usually have no trouble making out the
print. It was then I realized that I wasn’t wearing my glasses,
which, as for most “old” people, are bifocals. I slipped them
on, and then had no trouble reading the print.
Aside from the heavy sigh the incident
provoked, a bit of curiosity bubbled to the surface, as well. Even
without glasses, I’ve always been able to read things with no
problem. In fact, when I read newspapers after running or when I
read in bed every night it’s sans eyewear. Yet for some reason
this Sunday, I could not read the print in the newspaper until I put
my glasses on. I don’t know if it’s because the print was
smaller than usual or because the room was rather dark or if (gasp)
my eyes are just getting a little worse as time (gasp) marches on,
but for the first time, I couldn’t focus on the type well enough to
read what was on the page. It didn’t matter how close I got to the
page, or how far away I held it, something just didn’t work out
until I used my glasses.
Oh, woe is me.
Since then, I’ve read many
things—including newspapers—without wearing my glasses, and I’ve
been able to see them just fine. But that fact that I had this
particular problem for the first time just a few days before turning
another year “older” affected me in the way that all incidents
related to aging affect me—with me not handling it like an ”adult”
would.
So at least I’ve got that going for
me!
Don’t worry; I’m sure that as these
incidents keep popping up, I’ll (hopefully) get a better grip on
them. After all, as I’m always told, these incidents DO pop up
more and more as you age more and more, and, as I’ve found, there’s
nothing you can (yet) do to stop that. So like I said, while I don’t
mind birthdays, this whole getting “older” thing is just not my
cup of tea.
Sigh. . .and make it a heavy one, if
you’d like!
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