Gourds 'n stuff .....

Okay. I am now officially 64. Since Wednesday of this week.

I turned 64. And then I painted and wood-burned some more gourds. Yes, I'm now 64 but I can still paint a gourd. And other things. So.....this profound observation means what, exactly? Well, that "even though" I am now 64, I can still DO things. Paint gourds. Read books. Cook. Lots of things, really. I'm telling myself that I may be over that hill, but I'm not at the BOTTOM of it yet. So, I will continue to paint gourds - and other things. And read. And cook. And thank the good Lord that I CAN.

And I will repeat to myself what my eleven-year-old grandson, Christian, just told me a minute or so ago: "Life is good, Nonny." Yes! YES! Life IS good. I can still paint gourds. :)

Getting Old......

I'm feeling nostalgic this week.

Guess 'cause it's birthday week . At least, one of our grandsons, Christian, just turned eleven. That doesn't seem possible. Doesn't seem like it's been eleven years since we were "timing" his Mama's contractions, then getting her to the hospital.

But, it's true - eleven
years since that happened!

Probably feeling nostalgic, too, 'cause my own birthday is coming up in a week or so. I had been looking at some old family photos (some are here) - and started thinking: "where have all the years gone????" John and I look like kids in these pictures; yet we thought, at the time, we were so "adult". :) John's photo is his high school Senior photo (cute, isn't he?!) - and mine is after we were married and I was a young mama.




















And, of course, these cute kids are the ones I was the young mama TO! And, now, I am the OLD mama to them - and the grandma to THEIR kids. Again, where did all the years go? I remember, as a young mama, hearing the "older" moms tell me, from time to time, "enjoy them now, because they grow up fast".

Yeah, sure......I also remember the days when I was thinking, "REALLY? HOW FAST?" ha But, those were only on those "will this ever end???" days. Mostly, I didn't want them to end. I wanted the kids to stay little and cute......well, in my heart, if not in reality. It didn't seem at the time that they would ever grow up and be gone. Or, at least, it seemed as if I didn't need to worry about it, as it would take a LONG time for that to happen.

But it didn't. Take a long time. It didn't take a long time and now here I am wondering how all those years could be gone already. Our kids are adults themselves, some married and with children of their own. Spread out all over the country. We don't see them often. I am proud of them. And I miss them. I DO thank God for technology........telephones (the "normal" ones), cell phones where you can send photos and videos back and forth immediately, computers with the email and Facebook and Blogs. It's so much easier to stay in touch with distant family members nowadays. It doesn't replace the face-to-face-now-I-can-hug-you times; but it helps.

Yes, time has certainly flown. I will turn sixty-four soon..........many years past the young-mama stage. Now I find it is ME saying to the young moms, "enjoy them now, 'cause they sure grow up fast". And I smile as I see THEIR smiles and can almost read their thoughts, "yeah, sure .....will these frantic days NEVER end???" Yes, they will. All too soon. Some day, before you realize it, young mamas, you, too will be turning sixty-four and wondering where the years went and how did those babies grow up so fast......and it will be YOU passing on the "enjoy them now....." advice.

Birthdays make us think, I suppose, about the past. However, as I told a younger friend recently who was worrying about turning forty: "Thank God for being forty (or sixty-four!), because if you weren't forty, that means you just AREN'T period!)." And I still AM. So, I'll remember the "old days", but look forward to the new ones to come. I may be "getting old" or, as younger ones think, AM old - but I still AM. :)