RESPECT MY AGE

by Danna Shirley

As we grow older, our bodies become sluggish,

We can’t leap, or jump, or run as fast as when we were young,

We drop like rocks into our seats rather than sit down gracefully,

We rise up pushing against the arms of our chairs rather than jumping up quickly,

If we sit still for any length of time, we take a power nap.

As we grow older, our bodies begin to break down and we need medicine,

Medicine for ailments like arthritis, indigestion, and high blood pressure,

We need glasses to read, and drive, and see our medicine bottles,

We need hearing aids to listen to the radio, the television, and our grandchildren,

Every movement may cause a symphony of sounds, creaks, and groans.

As we grow older, our minds slow down and our memory escapes us,

What happened fifty years ago is vivid but yesterday is lost,

We recollect names but only after going down the roll call,    

We enter a room and forget what we went for,

We start a conversation and then exclaim, “Oops, I lost it!”   

I heard a wonderful senior saint comment recently,

I’m eighty-two years old and I respect my age,

I get help to walk down stairs or step off curbs when I need it,

I pray every morning that my eyes will see and my ears will hear,

That my mind will remain sharp and my thinking lucid.

So, as my senior years come upon me (and they are advancing at breakneck speed),

I want to approach my life with those same words of wisdom,

Give myself every opportunity to be safe and healthy in body, mind, and spirit,

Avoid bringing calamity upon myself and heartache to my family who loves me,

And especially . . .

RESPECT MY AGE