T-minus 16 years and counting...
A baffled mother of 49 years greeted me about five mornings ago with a swift slap on the knee: (I was sprawled over the couch ogling at the TV then)
"Ohmygod Mabel I'm turning 50 in about a month!!"
Ahhhh. Light screams ensued this pronouncement; her right hand flew to her open mouth and it is with a crestfallen look on her face when my dejected mom left the living room several minutes later... Tick-tock, the clock struck noon and I shook my head at it as I resumed as an audience in front of the blaring television, my mind threatening to wander.
Well the thing about aging is that it happens by the second, no? There's no stopping or preventing this continual phenomenon; newspapers yellow through the years, flowers wither after their blooming seasons, infants grow out of their diapers... and yet we're constantly talking about yearning to "turn back the hands of time", to rewind to our past, to pause it all, etc. I for one am a sucker for complaints about the time, actually. It's absolutely dreadful how it has this inexplicable way of speeding things up tenfold when you're happily involved in some delectable moment, and yet wretchedly crawling or snailing their way through weary times of boredom or woe.
In the case of my mother, she has already sailed through close to what, 50 years of this life of hers, but is loudly marking the occasion as agonising and distressing. Heh, well I agree that I would most probably feel the same if I were in her shoes (ah more wrinkles and grey hair!) I would at the same time, actually consider it remarkable to have been in existence for so long. Not to sound morbid or anything, but we all know how some babies die at birth, how many are born with incurable diseases, or how plenty in the world are struck with sudden surfacing illnesses and the like. Changes are perpetual, and she'd already witnessed a good lot of everything, no? She's presently healthy, possess a stable job, a doting husband, a Honda, given birth to three uh, charming children...yeah, I would say her life is pretty much fulfilling to date. Well I guess she did complain of never once winning the lottery in her entire life, but oh, I'd rather she spend the money and time fretting over which latest age-concealing cosmetics she ought to try next instead.
Well, so naturally all these thoughts would end in my mulling over where I would most probably stand in the society when I turn 50... Yeah, quietly slaving over some well-paying job and all that probably..but ohh, definitely blissfully married before 35 I hope! It would be improper, if not just plain mad, to be blessed with everything from good health to a high income but be so painfully deprived of something we've all learned to yearn and acknowledge as love in the end. (Well, don't laugh, it so happens to be one of my most immediate future concerns, you know..)
"Ohmygod Mabel I'm turning 50 in about a month!!"
Ahhhh. Light screams ensued this pronouncement; her right hand flew to her open mouth and it is with a crestfallen look on her face when my dejected mom left the living room several minutes later... Tick-tock, the clock struck noon and I shook my head at it as I resumed as an audience in front of the blaring television, my mind threatening to wander.
Well the thing about aging is that it happens by the second, no? There's no stopping or preventing this continual phenomenon; newspapers yellow through the years, flowers wither after their blooming seasons, infants grow out of their diapers... and yet we're constantly talking about yearning to "turn back the hands of time", to rewind to our past, to pause it all, etc. I for one am a sucker for complaints about the time, actually. It's absolutely dreadful how it has this inexplicable way of speeding things up tenfold when you're happily involved in some delectable moment, and yet wretchedly crawling or snailing their way through weary times of boredom or woe.
In the case of my mother, she has already sailed through close to what, 50 years of this life of hers, but is loudly marking the occasion as agonising and distressing. Heh, well I agree that I would most probably feel the same if I were in her shoes (ah more wrinkles and grey hair!) I would at the same time, actually consider it remarkable to have been in existence for so long. Not to sound morbid or anything, but we all know how some babies die at birth, how many are born with incurable diseases, or how plenty in the world are struck with sudden surfacing illnesses and the like. Changes are perpetual, and she'd already witnessed a good lot of everything, no? She's presently healthy, possess a stable job, a doting husband, a Honda, given birth to three uh, charming children...yeah, I would say her life is pretty much fulfilling to date. Well I guess she did complain of never once winning the lottery in her entire life, but oh, I'd rather she spend the money and time fretting over which latest age-concealing cosmetics she ought to try next instead.
Well, so naturally all these thoughts would end in my mulling over where I would most probably stand in the society when I turn 50... Yeah, quietly slaving over some well-paying job and all that probably..but ohh, definitely blissfully married before 35 I hope! It would be improper, if not just plain mad, to be blessed with everything from good health to a high income but be so painfully deprived of something we've all learned to yearn and acknowledge as love in the end. (Well, don't laugh, it so happens to be one of my most immediate future concerns, you know..)