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???Robert
Redford isn??™t quite as cute as he used to be,??? I said as my
husband, Jerry, and I watched him interviewed on TV. I
honestly was feeling very melancholy that his age was
showing. I preferred remembering his handsome face in ???The
Way We Were,??? and as ???The Sundance Kid.???
The
interview was over within seconds, and Jerry remarked,
???Well, you know none of us are as cute as we used to be.???
He said it so nonchalantly that it caught me completely
off-guard. I sat on the foot of the bed stunned, thinking
how much I hated those words.
I then went into my normal spiel of
how I don??™t feel any older, and other excuses I??™ve
fabricated the last few years. We bantered back and forth,
all in good fun for several minutes. Just as I started to
stand up, dear hubby made a very disturbing announcement.
???Kathy, do you realize this year you will be twice the age
you were when we met???? I felt like someone had hit me right
over the head with a cast iron frying pan! I fell backwards
onto the bed with my hands over my face, and made strange
wailing sounds as I did some quick math in my head.
???Oh no ??“
you??™re right! Jerry, that??™s the worst thing you??™ve ever
said to me in our entire married life,??? I shrieked. ???I
can??™t believe it. Don??™t you know when to keep your mouth
shut? Oh no ??“ how did this happen? And just what is wrong
with you anyway????
I went to
bed that night thinking about our conversation, and about
aging. I tossed and turned; I flipped and flopped for hours
trying to get to asleep. Being twice the age of anything is
a disturbing thought, unless you??™re lucky enough to still be
under the age of,
say
fifteen. What might be next ??“ would he someday tell me I??™m
three times older than when we met? I finally decided I had
to look on the bright side of things before this revelation
made me crazy. After several days it finally came to me ??“
there truly was a bright side. According to statistics,
Jerry will probably never be able to tell me I??™m three times
older than when we met. Being six years older than I am, he
will more than likely already be dead! If by chance he
isn??™t, he??™d best never utter the dreaded ???three??? word, or
I??™ll be moving out. It??™s as simple as that. Yep, I??™ll be
telling the nursing home administrator I want a
private room in a different wing!
?©2005
Kathleene S. Baker |
