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Old age  is a gift.
Old age, I decided,  is a gift.  I am now, probably  for the first time in my life,  the person I have always  wanted to be.  Oh, not my body!  I sometimes despair  over my body ...  the wrinkles,  the baggy eyes,  and the sagging butt.
And often I am taken aback by that old person that  lives in my mirror,  but I don't agonize over those things for long.
I would never trade  my amazing friends,  my wonderful life,  my loving family  for less grey hair or  a flatter belly.  As I've aged,  I've become more kind  and less critical of myself.  I've become my own friend.
I don't chide myself for eating that extra cookie,  or for not making my bed,  or for buying that silly  cement gecko that I didn't need,  but looks so avant-garde  on my patio.
I am entitled to overeat,  to be messy,  to be extravagant.  I have seen too many  dear friends leave this  world too soon;  before they understood the great freedom  that comes with aging.
Whose business is it  if I choose to read or play on the computer until 4 a.m.  and sleep until noon?
I will dance with myself to those wonderful tunes  of the 60's, and if I, at the same time, wish to weep over a lost love...  I will.
I will walk the beach  in a swim suit that is stretched over a bulging body,  and will dive into the waves  with abandon if I choose to,  despite the pitying glances  from the bikini set.
They, too, will get old. I know I am sometimes forgetful, but there again, some of life is just as well forgotten,  and I eventually remember  the important things.
Sure, over the years,  my heart has been broken.  How can your heart not break  when you lose a loved one,  or when a child suffers,  or even when a beloved pet  gets hit by a car?
But broken hearts are what give us strength,  understanding and compassion.  A heart never broken is  pristine and sterile  and will never know the joy  of being imperfect.
I am so blessed  to have lived long enough  to have my hair turn grey,  and to have my youthful  laughs forever etched  into deep grooves on my face.
So many have never laughed,  and so many have died  before their hair could turn silver.  I can say "no", and mean it.  I can say "yes", and mean it.
As you get older,  it is easier to be positive.  You care less about  what other people think.  I don't question myself anymore.  I've even earned the right  to be wrong.
So, to answer your question,  I like being old.  It has set me free.  I like the person I have become.
I am not going to live forever,  but while I am still here,  I will not waste time lamenting what could have been,  or worrying about what will be,  but will continue  to rejoice in what was.
Remember when  I was young and so were you and time stood still and  love was all we knew. Remember when  we said, once we turn grey, when the children grow up  and move away, we won't be sad, we'll be glad for all the life we've had.   This slide is dedicated to my wife
Here's hoping that you live forever And mine is the last voice you hear. A Toast  to Sweet  Old Age...