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 love handles. 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 kinder 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 Avant-garde
 on my patio. I am entitled to a treat, 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 AM and sleep until noon?
 
 I will dance with myself to those wonderful tunes of
 the 50's, 60's &70's, although from the 80’s on, the music was, mostly, not worth dancing to.
 
 I will walk the beach in a swim suit and I
 will dive into the waves with abandon if I choose to,
 despite the pitying glances from the jet set.
 
They, too, will get old. LOL.
 
 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 somebody's beloved pet
 gets hit by a car or dies of old age?  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 turning 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.
 
 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. (Sometimes more than I like)
 
 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, at least not in this world, 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 if I want to!