I continue on with a few lines from the Aimee Copeland story with Katie Couric saying to her “what you don’t have is eclipsed by what you do have.” Aimee replied “I do have what others do not have.”

They are two inspiring statements.

I have never myself, been an envious person except in one area. I always was desirous of thinner women or girls than me. However, that was something that I could conquer all by myself. When I had to renew my drivers’ license, you put your weight on the application. I think that every woman fudges a bit on that line. I had a friend who laughingly said “if she ever met a woman who put down her correct weight on the drivers’ license, she would be startled.”

Aimee was right. Failure is not an option for her. She has only one way to go on her  new journey and that is to make the most of what she still has left; and to go forward. She will accomplish that and has already done a lot towards it. How many of us could be in her position, regardless of age and be so positive?

Someone said “live your life, don’t be restricted. Life is great.” Condoleezza Rice said “where you came from, where are you going?”This is a good line to remember when we question our self as to what do we want in life.

When I was a kid in the 1940’s, we wanted to own more material things; we wanted to have fun, to not get Polio which was prevalent then, to have a good summer off from school and we thought about the future and hoped we would earn enough money to make us happy. We did not get involved with politics, we were respectful to our parents and all of our elders and we did not do drugs, smoke or get involved with sex other than hugging, touching or yearning for someone of the opposite sex. We wondered what he would be like, how he would react to us, how he would care for us and what kind of life we would have together. We knew we would have children, grandchildren and we would care of our elderly parents, when and if they needed us. We knew we would be there for them as they were there for us. This is what was expected from us and what we expected would happen to us and we willingly would be a part of it. We loved our parents and they us and this was our way of life then.

I know of a woman whose daughter decided to live with a guy in preparation for their future marriage. She gave up a profitable job here and moved far away to Vermont where he lived. She was not happy to be far away from her parents and sister, friends and grandmother. She thought she was moving forward in the right direction. She expected to receive an engagement ring for Christmas. Christmas came and went and no ring, no formal commitment and the months rolled by and their romance did not progress.

She realized that and with or without the ring, she decided after some arguments with him, she called Mom and Mom rode up there to Vermont, a many hours trip and brought her home immediately.

At first it was hard for her; she became successful, found a good job, better than she had here originally and finer than in Vermont where she lived with him. She decided it was time to live her life and not be restricted by him or the area. She came back here and is even happier and she has found a better environment. She took a chance, it did not turn out good, and she revitalized herself when she realized it was not working out. She even has a nice boyfriend now, who she will probably marry someday.

On soap operas, they have something called Soras. It stands for soap operas real aging syndrome. They take a character that is about age seven. They see no eventual storyline for a seven year old in a soap opera. So they send him or her off to visit grandmother out of town and a month later, the child comes back, as at least fifteen years older. They announce before the show starts and say “the part of Debbie is now being played by Amanda Jones.”This is to signal that a new actress or actor will play the part and when you see a ten year difference in age, you know what is happening.

It therefore creates more storylines than for a seven year old. Things then heat up and the part plays a major showing in the story. If we could do that in our life, it would not be practical. First of all, we would not want to miss out on any years coming to us. We would want to have those years and to age the way that is the normal manner. However, a child will say “I am five and a half.” An adult does not say that. Most adults are reluctant to give their age. I was never afraid to say my true age, I was proud of it and that I am living this long. I never gave my real weight, which was a different story.

Once years ago, I was in the local bakery and saw a lady who I graduated with from high school. Actually she sat in from of me in high school. We were seated alphabetically. I was So and she was Se. So we were the actual ages of each other, though I was a year ahead of myself, having gone to an accelerated junior high school. I said hi to her, having not seen her for about eighteen years, since we graduated high school. She said to me “I do not talk to people from the past because of age.” I said to her, “you do not have to say that dear, I am a year younger than you, do not worry about YOUR age.”

I was not going to be in her Soras mentality. We all were the same ages within a year or two. What is the difference? I know someone who will not tell me her age. I asked how old her husband is and she said he is much older than me. That was to show me, she is much younger than him. I asked how old her children were, thinking I could figure her age out because by now I was intrigued. She said they are my stepchildren and they are forty-three and thirty-nine. If I added only twenty years to that, she would be about sixty-three or so. She is probably younger, since they are his biological kids. What is the difference, be proud of your age and that you got this far.

A man on the phone in India and a lady in California said to me when I had to call them for a problem, “you do not sound like you are seventy-eight.” What does seventy-eight sound like? Now days, seventy-eight is relatively young in the long living of people at the present time. When I was young, seventy-eight was ancient.

Now it is not and we who are at these advanced ages, remember, it is not too late to accomplish, attain and achieve.

If someone like Aimee is going forward with all of her deterrents, and she will survive, conquer and be appreciated for what she is able to do; than we, who are older can still become wiser, be happy and still be productive in anything we try that is old for us, new for us and delightful for us.

Do not worry about numbers in your age, be proud of whom you are now and if you want to do something new, go for it. As my grandchildren say and most youngsters when they repeat their ages, they add one half to their current age if that is so, I say I am seventy-eight and one quarter (on September twenty-first).

Live your life, do not be restricted, life is still good and can become better.