What A Shock! I am Old!! | Grandma's Ramblings

After a trip to the emergency room followed by a stay in the hospital last month, I was given a heart monitor to wear for two weeks. The results of that monitor required a visit to a cardiologist. Now I am scheduled for a heart catheterization.

But in the process of my visit to the cardiologist, I had an epiphany. A moment when it hit me – I am old.

My doctor began asking me questions about my family’s medical history. I shared that my father had open heart surgery and my mother had some heart issues. It clearly did not indicate I had any genetic tendency to heart disease I assured him – they simply were just “old.” At that point, he asked their age when they had heart problems.

After telling him their age when they began having heart issues, he smiled and asked, “how old are you?”

His smile said it all. I am old.

It probably sounds silly – but until that moment I never considered myself “old.”

But I am. So – I have decided to have a good laugh at myself. Hope you will have a good laugh too.

To console myself with this new knowledge I found many people before me had share words of wisdom about growing old.

• “Old age is always fifteen years older than I am.” Oliver Wendell Holmes
• “Aging seems to be the only available way to live a long life.” Kitty O’Neill Collins
• “I don’t feel old. I don’t feel anything until noon. Then it’s time for my nap.” Bob Hope
• “Today is the oldest you’ve ever been, and the youngest you’ll ever be again.” Eleanor Roosevelt

My granddaughter can testify to the truth of this cartoon. Before we go anywhere together, she knows I will need a trip to the restroom first. When I tell her I am going to the bathroom before we leave, she sarcastically says, “Obviously.”

Hopefully the results of the catherization will be good and soon I will be feeling much better. In the meantime, my husband and I will go on enjoying being “old” together.