Longview Hills @ Newport Oregon

From an email...

The other day a young person asked me how I felt about being old. I was
>taken aback, for I do not think of myself as old. Upon seeing my reaction,
>he was immediately embarrassed, but I explained that it was an interesting
>question, and I would ponder it, and let him know.
>
>
>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 sometime 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 gray hair or a flatter belly. As I've aged, I've become more kind
>to myself, 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 savant
>grade
>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 and
>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 gray, and to
>have my youthful laughs be 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.
>And I shall eat dessert every single day.