Turning 72 – Hmmm, what have I learned?

I have learned that as I get older I suffer fools even less than when I was young. I understand John Milton when he said that he does not “suffer fools gladly.”

I think the most important thing that I have learned is the importance of my faith. It is through my faith that I have weathered some awful storms. Now, that said, my faith wasn’t always at the fore front of my life and as I look back I see how I made things harder on myself by it not being in the fore front. My faith is based on Jesus Christ. I recommend getting to know Him if you don’t already. I will also add that I have met many atheists and agnostics in my life but I have never personally met a joyful one. I am not saying that there aren’t any but I have never met one.

I have learned to put a rectangular laundry basket in my trunk or hatch area to put grocery bags into so they don’t fly around. I don’t like those nets you can put in your trunk because they squish the bags.

I have learned that love and long term commitment is definitely a two way street. When I was young, women were taught that keeping the marriage and home happy and running smoothly were the woman’s duty. Keeping the man happy at all times was the core of a woman’s existence. If you want a happy home it is necessary for both to share the load especially today when so many woman work outside the home.

I have learned that there is not a good substitute for real butter. I don’t care what the ads say, anyone with working taste buds knows real butter from the fake stuff they pedal on TV.

I have learned that most hills are not worth dying on. When we are young we tend to think that anything that happens in our life that didn’t go as planned was a hill worth dying over. Social media has exasperated this problem. Young people put any drama, big or small, on social media and then they feed off of the responses. As we get older we see that the hills worth dying over are issues regarding people you love, the moral decay of this wonderful country, attempts to sanitize history, the dumbing down of our schools and issues such as human trafficking, to name a few.

I have learned that democracy as we know it will not collapse if we have fast food or breakfast for dinner.

I have learned that this is not a dress rehearsal. This is your life. When we are young we don’t always think of the consequences of our actions. We just figure we have time to fix things if we make a mistake. We make choices every day and most have little or no long term effects. It is as we get older that we come to acknowledge that some choices have long term consequences and that we will carry the burden of those consequences until we die.

I have learned that not everything that is put in our hands is for our use.

I have learned that being a grandparent is much different than being a parent. This is true on numerous levels. First you don’t have the financial burden of raising these children and second you can actually laugh when they act like complete fools in public because your wish has come true. Your children’s children are acting just like they did!! More importantly you know that those hills, that I talked about earlier, really are not that important and you can share this knowledge with your children. You can try to smooth out the moments when your children look bewildered. You get to have fun with the grandchildren and not worry about all the clean up afterward. A note to all you grandparents who are raising your grandchildren – You rock and your grandchildren are blessed to have you in their lives.

I have learned that few things in life beat the joy of spending time with a friend.

I have learned that nothing shows you care like food. I always taught my girls that if someone is having a hard time or facing a problem then a visit with food is always a good thing. Maybe the person just needs to vent but it sure helps if there is a fresh coffee cake to go with the coffee. If the person is facing a more significant event such as being seriously ill, the hospitalization of a loved one or worse the loss of a loved one then a meal is what is called for at this time. I have been a part of numerous meal trains and offering to organize one can be a real blessing to the person in need as well as the person organizing it as well as those who take part. A woman once told me that nothing annoyed her more than paying for food as she could use that money for other things. She spent as little as possible on food and she and her husband often lived on PB&J. I reminded her that if God didn’t want us to enjoy food he wouldn’t have given us taste buds. Plus, most of Jesus’s gatherings involved food so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that food and how it is offered can provide comfort.

I have learned to never leave home without lipstick. No matter how bad a day may be a touch of lipstick can help.

I have learned that Grandma was right and there is always room for one more at the table especially during the Holidays.

I have learned to never go anywhere without a book.

I have learned that as pretty as heels may look; comfortable shoes, especially sneakers and sandals, rock!

These are a few of the things I have learned. I hope that most of you my age or getting there can relate to them.