Home » Partners & Parents » Aging » 37. Happy Birthday To Me!

37. Happy Birthday To Me!

© Judi S. Kaminishi

Is it really Mickey Mantle who said, "If I had known I was going to live this long I would have taken better care of myself?" I first read this saying in a newspaper cartoon and thought it was hilarious at the time. Of course, since then I've added several years and am no longer guffawing as loudly. I've joined the club so to speak... I am now looking from an insider's point of view.

It's true that in one's youth there is that feeling of invincibility. If a person is lucky enough to reach one's forties with nothing more than her/his share of the common cold and flu bug bites, it's most likely that good health is still taken for granted.

Receiving that first gray hair around forty-two is probably one's wake-up call. "Hello, wake up, there's proof that I'm actually aging here!" Over the years one realizes that the really cool thing about aging is that it happens so naturally and in most cases very gradual. It's like you don't quite realize you're there until someone else brings it to your attention.

Although, here I was all excited to get the senior citizen discounts to movies and such until they started to change the cutoff age to sixty-five instead of fifty-five. I mean, what's going on here? Am I a senior citizen or not?

As much as I enjoy receiving the senior citizen discounts wherever possible, I have to confess that I still don't really feel my age. I'm not quite sure exactly how one is supposed to feel at any given age, but I know for fact that the mind ages differently than the body. As I've mentioned before, while the body may show wear and tear, the mind can continue to grow stronger. Increase in gray matter is possible if one seeks it, as opposed to the increase of gray hair, which usually has more negative connotations attached.

My fifty-seventh birthday is this weekend. I have to laugh at the fact that it's starting to sound a little old to me. I'm even beginning to think that there are more things I can do to take better care of myself. I've always adhered to the concepts of "everything in moderation," "the more organic food the better," preferred the stairs over the escalators, etc.; but older friends and relatives are making me consider more. I have taken very decent care of myself without ever being a fanatic, and while there is no reason to change my ways I do wish to keep an open mind.

The copyright of the article 37. Happy Birthday To Me! in Aging is owned by Judi S. Kaminishi. Permission to republish 37. Happy Birthday To Me! in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.