Too See or Not to See
It does not seem possible that one week has passed in 1986. It also does not seem possible that we are now on the downhill slide in the decade of the eighties. With this in mind. I am proud to announce that I have not written 1985 on my check for one week now. I have remembered to put 86 behind that little 19. The reason I am so proud of this seemingly unimportant feat is because it usually takes me until March to catch up with the years. .. in my mind. My body is doing a great job of keeping up with the years, it is my memory that is running last. To quote my friend Becky. “I am getting to the point where l can remember things that happened twenty years ago. I just can’t remember where I put things yesterday.” This probably sums up a middle-aged memory.
With half of the eighties behind us. we can look forward to the last half as we head for the nineties. (Sounds strange-1990-I know I will never remember that.) In the eighties, all of us who were born in the thirties will turn fifty at one time or another. whether we like it or not. Whether you are a has been or a will be. the results are the same. .. the big 50. Although my Mom was kind enough to bring me into this world in the last half of the their thirties, the fabulous forties are running out for this old girl. I have convinced myself that fifty isn’t going to be so bad, in fact middle-age is a fun time of life. The fun being that all the friends that you have had since you were twenty are now middle-aged with bad memories and failing eyesight too.
Although our memories have suffered a few minor setbacks, the most humorous side of being middle-aged has to be our eyesight. Having to finally concede to the fact that the old eyes are not what they used to be. This is not the easiest thing in the world to do if you have not had to wear eyeglasses since you were a young whipper snapper. Memory and eyeglasses also seem to run hand in hand. Forgetting to take our new glasses with us when we go out is a common practice among most middle-agers. I have noticed that in the crowd of people that we associate with, one person out of four will remember to bring their glasses. This one pair of glasses ends up being passed around the table like a bowl of peanuts at a cocktail party It seems like it takes forever for everyone to decide what sounds good on the menu at a restaurant. As for myself, I happen to be getting as near-sighted as Mr. MaGoo, but I refuse to read the menu to three grown people.
Being near-sighted isn’t so bad, I might not know where I am going but I know where I am when I get there. My friend Georgia on the other hand is far-sighted. Together we make a pretty good pair. If we both forget our glasses (which has happened on occasion), we still manage to function very well. While shopping in a huge shopping center, it is a common practice for her to read me the large signs above the department stores and point me in the right direction so when we get to the dress department I can read the price tags for her. It is like having 20-20 vision with a couple of drawbacks. One of the drawbacks being, when we get separated, I end up in one department reading price tags and she ends up wandering all over the store wondering what is on sale.
So you can take it from me, middle-age is a lot more fun than being young. I certainly can’t remember sitting around a table when we were all young laughing about the fact that we had forgotten our glasses and couldn’t see the menu, but then… I can’t remember where I laid my glasses the last time I took them off either.
