Getting Older

As I was leaving the doctor’s office he was dictating notes about our meeting… I eavesdropped…because I can…. He said he’d just finished up a conference with a delightful 70 year old man. I was glad he used the word delightful…it was a wonderful compliment to hear… but ‘old man’ are the words that kept ringing in my ears. I know it’s just the way he phrased it…but it would have sounded better to my ears If he had said a delightful man…who’s lived for 70 years. It happens often at the bookstore too…it’s usually a brief encounter when a parent with a child who wants to buy a book says, “Give it to the old man behind the counter.” I used to look around…wondering who that old man could be… Now…I take the book with a smile….knowing that old man behind the counter…is me. They all don’t actually say ‘old man’…those words don’t always occur sometime I think they are implying it….other times…I infer. In truth…I’ve never felt bad abut growing old…about looking older…turning gray. It’s never been about growing older…it’s more about growing…every day. It’s more about the person I am…than the person they first see…. It’s growing…no matter what age I am…into the person I’ve always wanted to be. I can’t help growing older every day…but I’ll be happy…this I know… If I continue to grow a little more delightful…the older that I grow.