Growing Old Isn't For Sissies!!

[Lyne]

This really happened to me, just yesterday...and being me, I "vent" my emotions through my poetry!

OMG, I Have A Wattle!?!

This is the day I discovered I have a wattle!
It shocked me, caused tears to bubble and I wobbled,
How did this happen, existing inside this bottle,
Containing my young soul; my body's become a fossil!

I hate looking in mirrors, fearing I might gobble,
Being mistaken for a turkey would feel awful!
Aging is no picnic, it brings so much trouble,
Yet through my fall years, I will just have to muddle.

In our society where youth and beauty are revered,
Old men look "distinguished", hiding theirs behind a beard,
So while they chase after all of the sweet bouncy young chicks,
This old gobbler feels like retreating out into the sticks!
~Lyne's Creations

PS... I AM being brave sharing this aspect of me in public... !!

 

[Alisa]

Awwwwwwwww



Yeah, those of use who aren't spring chick anymore can relate. And the world is certainly kinder to aging men than women!

 

[frogimus]

Ah, Lyne. Judging by what I see of you in your posts here, you are a lovely person so don't let the mirror lie.

I don't know if it's a guy thing (or just a "me" thing) but I'm not one that judges by outward appearances.

But I do share your surprise in discovering the person in the mirror is older that the person inside. And 2 decades ago still feels as if it should be current events. Didn't we rail against previous generations for being that way when we were younger?

And how many times do I make the mistake of thinking my body can still easily make that hop/bend that way/reach that far, only to comically fail.

 

[Miss B]

I wasn't sure what you were referring to at first Lyne, but after reading the whole thing, I think I know what you're referring to, only we usually referred to chickens, not turkeys, and don't worry about it. I've had mine for a couple of decades now (noticed it right after menopause), and I don't like it, but what can you do? At least mine's gotten a little smaller after losing some weight. Unfortunately, I don't think I'll lose it all, even if I lose the 40 lbs I need to lose to get back to what I weighed back then.

It's gotten so I hardly notice it any more. I'm just waiting for my first wrinkle to show up. My mother didn't have wrinkles until her 80s, so I have a few more years before that starts. Luckily, I always moisturize my face after washing it every morning, and my mom, who didn't work outside the house, didn't until AFTER she started getting wrinkles. Hopefully, I won't have too many. Well, one can dream anyway.

 

[Mivan]

Yeah, those of use who aren't spring chick anymore can relate. And the world is certainly kinder to aging men than women!

Ahem, eh ladies, I ahh hate to see anyone so deceived having spent over 3 hours on the table yesterday having one of my 68 year old arteries reamed out with a laser. It still hurts and they have to do the other leg!

 

[Britt]

Thank goodness for Photoshop; or I wouldn't use a real picture as my avatar!

(Not to mention this picture is from 2005! )

 

[Miss B]

Ahem, eh ladies, I ahh hate to see anyone so deceived having spent over 3 hours on the table yesterday having one of my 68 year old arteries reamed out with a laser. It still hurts and they have to do the other leg!

OUCH! I hope all goes well for you once the other leg is done and you've had time to heal.

 

[frogimus]

Thank goodness for Photoshop; or I wouldn't use a real picture as my avatar!

(Not to mention this picture is from 2005! )

That's a picture? I just assumed it was a render

 

[Lyne]

ROFL... well if we can't laugh...we WILL cry... and I actually tend to be thin.... wattles don't care...skin just sags...in more places than one!

BUT I'd never get a face lift... I can't deal with more pain than I live with 24/7.... it is strange too, that with my childhood memories being so foggy, I REMEMBER when my own Mother got upset, and actually contemplated a face... er neck/chin lift... what ever they call it... she didn't, but ....

THEN I had to go and remember the one lawyer in Ally McBeal (TV series) that LOVED wattles...fell in love with Diane Cannon's.... and I always shuddered... !

@Miv your leg's arteries? owie!!

@Miss B well turkeys do have the biggest wattles... guess I have just seen a lot of them.

@frog well your a rare duck, then... but how nice... however, with low self esteem, I honestly can't deal with mirrors... could hardly do that before... oh and photos HERE are from a VERY long time ago.... sigh.

 

[Mivan]

Thanks for the 'get wells' Miss B and all. I am pretty mobile already. Went out and put down about 30 feet of weed cloth in our little pear orchard this morning. At least my cardiologist now realizes how serious a problem I have and will be more attentive to symptoms in the future. Kept telling him for months the leg was bothering me; in fact it was over 99% blockage of the femoral artery. Little wonder I could only walk a couple of hundred feet without resting! Anyway it is now back to watching that old render line................!

 

[frogimus]

Thanks for the 'get wells' Miss B and all. I am pretty mobile already. Went out and put down about 30 feet of weed cloth in our little pear orchard this morning. At least my cardiologist now realizes how serious a problem I have and will be more attentive to symptoms in the future. Kept telling him for months the leg was bothering me; in fact it was over 99% blockage of the femoral artery. Little wonder I could only walk a couple of hundred feet without resting! Anyway it is now back to watching that old render line................!

Glad the cardio finally listened! Hope all goes well.

 

[Alisa]

Ouch, Mivan...hope you're feeling better soon!

I didn't mean that aging was kinder to men, but the public's perception of older men vs older women as Lyne commented in her first post. He is "distinguished" she is "old"

 

[Minyassa]

Aww! ::hugs:: My mother had a similar appalled reaction recently...she blurted to me in outrage, "Look at my *neck*, I have *old lady skin*!!" She tells me that the mirror shocks her because she still feels like a twenty-year-old inside (she's always been sort of a rebellious chick). I can definitely grok the sentiment; not quite fifty yet but my body will certainly never be the same as I remember it most fondly, and that's just not fair, and it does make me want to just go live in a cave and only peek out to yell at the kids to get off my lawn.

 

[Pendraia]

Glad the cardio listened Mivan! Hope your feeling better soon...

I look in the mirror and I feel like someone has done a body swap...that can't be me in there. I don't feel that old!

 

[Mivan]

Aww! ::hugs:: My mother had a similar appalled reaction recently...she blurted to me in outrage, "Look at my *neck*, I have *old lady skin*!!" She tells me that the mirror shocks her because she still feels like a twenty-year-old inside (she's always been sort of a rebellious chick). I can definitely grok the sentiment; not quite fifty yet but my body will certainly never be the same as I remember it most fondly, and that's just not fair, and it does make me want to just go live in a cave and only peek out to yell at the kids to get off my lawn.

Glad to hear someone besides myself remembers Michael Valentine Smith and is still grokking. Brats on the lawn? Bah, turn the dogs loose I say!

 

[Miss B]

I had to look him up. I'm not a Heinlein fan, so not too familiar with his books.

 

[Lyne]

So glad I'm not alone with my wattle! Today my back muscles are locked up, top to bottom...my back muscles don't "hold" my spine in place well anymore (always had a loose move-able spine, even when in top condition)....and I HURT...so taking some days to just rest and wait it out... spasming and knotted muscles are a hallmark of Fibro too.... sigh...

 

[Alisa]

Hugs!

 

[Mivan]

I wish all I had on the lawn was rugrats. We have blackbears and they can do an incredible amount of damage to your landscape. Not to mention the armadillos and squirrels digging little holes every where.

 

[Carey]

This really happened to me, just yesterday...and being me, I "vent" my emotions through my poetry!

OMG, I Have A Wattle!?!

This is the day I discovered I have a wattle!
It shocked me, caused tears to bubble and I wobbled,
How did this happen, existing inside this bottle,
Containing my young soul; my body's become a fossil!

I hate looking in mirrors, fearing I might gobble,
Being mistaken for a turkey would feel awful!
Aging is no picnic, it brings so much trouble,
Yet through my fall years, I will just have to muddle.

In our society where youth and beauty are revered,
Old men look "distinguished", hiding theirs behind a beard,
So while they chase after all of the sweet bouncy young chicks,
This old gobbler feels like retreating out into the sticks!
~Lyne's Creations

PS... I AM being brave sharing this aspect of me in public... !!

LOL, I am not laughing, it is just the dementia...