One must pace oneself

And be ready for all the

Peculiar changes

Hair color

Needing to know

Every bathroom

In your surrounding area

Teeth move and

Crack and still decay

Knees crack, hurt,

And give out

And who would think

You’d

Look forward to shots

In the knees every 3 months

Age spots starting to

Group together and look

Like a tan

Ringing in ears

Cataract surgery

Yearly Medicare

Check ups…

Trouble with stairs

Hearing words

Having little desire

To plan ahead

Losing sister and brother

And most older relatives

Not knowing new Actors,

Musicians or even

Appreciating their Art…

Eating less

Losing weight, and hair

And the steam to move

Forward…

One think of what

Constantly reading

Hometown Obits

To see who’s left

Reading obits and

Seeing photo’s making

You think about

What is said and what

picture to show…

Having the coffin clothes

Ready to go

Hoping no-one will

Think “she didn’t age

Well…

Getting back into

3 hours of Soaps

Getting rid of the extra

Baggage cluttering

Up our home…

Listening to our kids take

On the world

And their upbringing

Who felt loved more

Who felt slighted

What we did that they

Can’t forgive…

Seeing yourself in

Each of your babies

And being so proud

Of who they have become

And even prouder

Of the grandboys they

Produced and the partners

They have brought into

The family

The career paths they

Travel

The family ties they

Continue to hold

And how each coming

From us are so different…

There is nothing more

Important to this

Aging parent than

The kids God gave

To us though our love and faith

💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕