I am 25 years old. Or nearly so. Thursday will mark the 25th year since I made my appearance in Hospital Los Arcos in Guatemala City, Guatemala. For some odd reason, I'm looking forward to being 25 --- there's a nice ring to it. Just try saing it: "Twenty-five. I'm twenty-five. Twenty-five years ago it was 1985. I have twenty-five cents. I'm going to give Jen twenty-five dollars." Yes, a very nice ring to it indeed.
There are women in this world who would not be so pleased to declare they are a quarter of a century old. Why is that? Why is it that there's that stipulation that it's not polite to ask a lady how old she is? (And why do women in particular seem to reserve this right?) Personally, I'm a fan of proudly declaring your age. I have nothing to hide. I'm young and inexperience, I'm an adult (most of the time), I'm growing older, in five years I'll be 30, in 30 years I'll be 55, and eventually I will get grey hair and wrinkles. Is it really so bad for a lady to admit to herself that she's not as young as she used to be, yet she may not be as old as she is perceived to be?
Frankly, I think it's silly to try to avoid growing older. First of all, it's impossible to avoid. Sure I miss the delightful innocence, but I've already been there. I can hold on to that experience and those memories, while looking forward to experiences that only a young adult could experience. Besides, who said you have to loose your joie de vivre as you start to collect some years?
"The great thing about getting older
is that you don't lose
all the other ages you've been."
-Madeline L'Engle
I have great respect for a woman who can age gracefully and with dignity. After all, true beauty is timeless. And they say that 50 year old Scotch is pretty smooth. Real smooth.
That's a great quote from Madeleine L'Engle. And since I'll probably space out about this on Thursday, happy birthday in advance!!
ReplyDeleteWell said, my friend, well said. Annnd, aging with the company of such a wonderful friend as you can only add to the goodness. A toast: to wisdom! to wrinkles! to softening with age! to smoothness! to your friendship! to 25 years of the Lord's faithfulness! to valuable lessons! to YOU!!
ReplyDeleteLove you, Jen.
Did I say "Happy Birthday"?
ReplyDeleteI love how you wrote about aging with grace and dignity...I've at least got the aging part down!
While in my 20s (about a century ago), I read a quote by Gladys Hunt about how we can't stop the aging process (well, we can but it's fatal) but we can choose to "grow beautiful". I decided then that the last two things I could choose to do well were to age with grace and die loving God. Some goals I've had ever since. Sounds like you're well on your way. But hey, you've got a lot of youth left! Enjoy! Today, this year and for a long, long time, until Jesus comes again! Love you!