As I come up on another birthday, I've been thinking about how I'd like to be as I grow old. I like watching older ladies and learning from their examples. I pick out things about them that are lovely--or repulsive, as the case may be--and file them into my mental filebox of things to exemplify or avoid.

I have seen many an old lady who is just the sweetest, gentlest looking person, and a big smile automatically comes across my face when they pass. I try to make note of exactly what it is about them that makes them that way, so that I can cultivate those aspects in my own life. I notice clothing, hair, the way they move, their wrinkles, their face, their demeanor. I like seeing a woman who looks like she put thought into her appearance, but doesn't obsess over it.

Many of the older people in this generation were around when it was unheard of to go out without a hat and gloves on, even if it was just to the grocery store to pick up a gallon of milk. There seems to be an unspoken rule that when women turn 65 or 70, they have to chop all their hair off (if they even had any in the first place) and curl it. It seems like with few exceptions, every elderly lady you see has the same, uniform "granny" hair. I love seeing an older woman who has retained her long hair. They look so graceful and feminine! Now, I know as they grow older, many women have problems with their hair falling our and getting thin and scraggly. I hope to keep mine as long as I can. As much as I dislike wigs, I'd probably even want to go that route before submitting to the uniform granny hairdo.

Now, I realize that you can't always determine how you are going to end up. Perhaps some disease will ravage your body, leaving you weak and frail. I am not criticizing those to whom this has happened. But, I, for one, want to be one of those "active" older people. I may not get my wish, but I am going to do everything in my power and leave the rest up to God.

I study older ladies faces. Some have permanent frown lines and wrinkles on their faces. They look as if they are scowling all the time, even if they are not. Their faces were "trained" that way by years of constant worry, anger, and depression. On the other hand, I love seeing people with those crinkly little lines around their eyes that you get when you smile a lot. My husband tells me one of the things he likes best about me is my smile. When you see someone pleasantly smiling, or even someone who looks as if they smile a lot, it makes you want to smile too. Smiles, like yawns, are infectious.

I have three main reasons for wanting to grow old gracefully. First, I want to continue to be an attractive wife. I do not want my husband to wake up one day and realize that he is married to an unkempt hag! Secondly, I want to watch my children's children grow up and not be a burden on them. Thirdly, I want to exude the joy and peace of the Lord. I want to be a pleasant, approachable person, so I can share my secret of happiness with others.

Ladies, we are not going to just wake up one day, old and lovely. We must identify and cultivate those attributes that we wish to possess in our old age now, while we are still young. We need to exercise our minds and bodies in our youth, so that we can reap the benefits later. We need to practice being kind, gentle, honest, sweet people now. We need to develop those smile lines! We need to dress modestly and becomingly, and all these habits formed in our youth will carry us through our golden years.

You don't just up and become a different person when you turn 65. That is, in a sense, when we find out who we've become. All these years we were becoming somebody, and I think when we are old, we will have finally arrived. People will look back and remember those good things about us from our middle age years, but the thing that will stick in their minds is how we were when we were older.

So start now! Do you want to be a feminine, pleasant, beautiful person when you are old? Be a feminine, pleasant, beautiful person now. Do you want to be mentally alert and sharp? Exercise your brain. Do you want healthy bones in old age? Start taking your calcium and doing weight training. Also, remember that "A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones" (Proverbs 17:22). You must discipline yourself to form good habits in the present, and then you will reap what you sow.

And even to your old age I am He; and even to hoar [grey] hairs will I carry you: I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you. ~Isaiah 46:4


Image from PictureQuest.com

You can reach Mrs. Booker at bookerclan@gmail.com.

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