It's Friday, and time for another Friday Night Thought Tale Hour with the Hendersons. We gain an hour this week, and I noticed lately that I have been more aware of my upcoming Birthday and the subsequent age of 60 as part of my personal description.
Perhaps it's spending so much time around people who are far less than half my age but still feeling like it was just yesterday that I was them. Or going to visit a couple of nieces who I remember just being in High School but are now approaching mid-life. Or seeing 40th High School Reunion pictures that are filled with people you remembered quite differently. Or even hustling through an airport and having a kind 20-something ask, 'Ma'am, can I help you with your bag?' Or maybe I just realize that I am now firmly committed to the '60s and the '70s can't be far behind.
Whatever it is, the past few days, I've been preoccupied a little more than usual about aging.
That's just something I never thought I would go through since I've always bragged about being an old soul waiting for the outside to match me.
But there I was feeling old and not feeling ready to deal with the results.
I can still remember the last time I went through this. It was when I was turning 55. I was riding in the back of my son's car with my sweet grandson through the breathtaking East Coast countryside, and I had a beautiful moment of connection to the nature around me. I suddenly saw myself in the colors of the trees on the hillside. Trees once full of little green buds, which developed into leaves, matured with fruit, harvested, and now bursting forth with glorious color, far from appearing diminished. I said to my son and bonus daughter, "You two are in the wonderful Spring of life, and I am so proud of how you cherish each opportunity presented to you. But the good news is that one day, you'll have a fantastic Autumn, just as lovely as what is surrounding us, and you'll get to see how it all comes together with brilliant resolution". Yes, I am in my going into my 60's, but more than that, I am in my glorious Autumn.
Indulge me as I take this a bit further...
(Like you could stop me, right?)
Like the freshness of Spring and the revelry of Summer, Autumn has its own time of establishing its presence. I really never knew the fullness of this until I moved to the Midwest, where each season makes a bold announcement as it arrives. For me, I've always noticed first how the trees show the change. Most of them stay pretty much the same in structure, but it's their leaves that tell us what season we are in.
Metaphorically, I think it's the same way with humans.
Our 'leaves' are the fruits of our lives. Much like the trees, what we have to weather in the previous season often determines the way the grain will look. Even when the leaves drop and all that is left is the structure, the beauty beneath can still be awe-inspiring. When we look at the really glorious ones, we are not thinking, "Poor thing, doesn't know that soon it will be barren..."
That's how we should strive to be looked at by others in the Autumn of our lives.
Like the trees, we can always evaluate what needs to happen to ensure we get to our Winter with grace and glory. It's never too late to fertilize, prune, or graft, you just have to be willing to put in the hard work to fulfill the need.
So tonight, we are drinking Curtis Orchard Specially Spiced Cider as we toast to Autumn - our Autumn - and the masterful ways we will continue to burst forth with splendor. CHEERS FRIENDS!
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