Sunday Stealing: Age

From Sunday Stealing
The Questions of Age

Cheers to all of us thieves!

Sunday Stealing editor's note: Today our questions have a different format. This is not a “fill-out-the-blank” exercise. Rather, we’d ask that you to “finish the paragraph”. As always, we are trying to learn more about you, our friend.

1. By a certain age, women should . . . know that many men do not have their best interests at heart. Some do, of course. Look for those. They are hard to find, like four-leaf clovers.

2. By a certain age men, should . . . have learned to treat their girlfriends/wives like they would like to see their mothers treated.

3. When I was young I thought by now I would . . . have grandchildren, but since I had no children that did not come to pass. If you'd like to read a blog entry I wrote about the son I never had, except in my imagination, you can find it at the link.

4. Now that I am older I wish . . . I had paid more attention to my physical health when I was younger. I wish I had known about yoga when I was 25. I wish I had *not* listened solely to western medicinal practitioners and instead had investigated other forms of healing. Being in a rural area meant much of that was not available to me, though. Sometimes I think I'd have been better off to have visited the wise old woman in the woods, wherever she was, than a doctor.

5. You know that you are too old to do an activity when . . . the very idea of it makes you hurt all over.

6. You know you are too young to do an activity when . . . you can't reach the basketball net because you're only three feet high.

7. When I was in high school I listened to the music of . . . the 1970s - including disco. I still listen to it. My favorites are The Eagles, Linda Rondstadt, Fleetwood Mac, Elton John, etc.

8. When I was in college (or the next four years after high school) I listened to the music of . . . Michael Jackson (Thriller!), Genesis, Men at Work, etc.

9. These days, at my age I find myself listening music of . . . Melissa Etheridge and Sheryl Crow.

10. For my last birthday I . . . did nothing special, I'm afraid. However, my brother sent me an erector set because I'd mentioned one in a blog post. That was fun. My husband and I built a little car on a rainy day.

11. On my next birthday I want to . . . be well enough to hike to McAfee's Knob. That's on the Appalachian Trail, which runs in behind us, sort of, across Tinker Mountain. McAfee's Knob looks out over the Catawba Valley and is one of the best-known views from the AT. I have never been up there. It's a six mile jaunt, one way, and I can last a whole 15 minutes on the treadmill before whatever is wrong with my abdomen bends me over double, so I don't think I will be able to make this trip, but it is the goal that keeps me exercising. (Here's a photo of McAfee's Knob. Click!)

12. The best birthday present I ever got was . . . a 50th surprise party from my husband. We had pizza, and he invited all kinds of people and they showed up. I was very humbled that so many people would come out in the middle of the day on a Saturday, of all things, to wish me happy birthday.

13. The first time I felt that I was an adult was when . . . I told me husband I would marry him. I had just turned 20 and we married four months later. That is very young to marry and I don't advise it. I was lucky.

14. The last time I felt like I was still a kid was when . . . I started coloring last spring. I enjoyed the feel of the crayons, the smell of the wax in them, and I was delighted that I could actually make a picture in a coloring book *look* like something.

My sweetie in his racing suit.

15. I would sum up 2016 by saying . . . it was overall a nice year. We did not have any major accidents and we had a good vacation in the Poconos. It was fun watching my husband race around the track at Pocono Speedway. He can mark that off his bucket list.

16. I hope I will sum up 2017 by saying in December . . . my health improved greatly, I found work to do, and we went on a great vacation to . . . someplace.

17. So far in terms of age, I feel my first big milestone was . . . in 1983, when I married, followed by my first publication in a newspaper in 1984.

18. As I look forward to the rest of my life’s journey, I feel my biggest milestone of my life will be . . . having a good marriage. We have been married for 33 years and while of course there have been a few ups and downs, for the most part we are comfortable and happy with one another. I'm not sure that's exactly a milestone, but it is the sum of the biggest accomplishment of my life.

19. By the time I was the age I am now I am surprised that I haven’t yet . . . published a book. That was my goal at one time, but then I became a newspaper reporter. Ten thousand articles later, I have lots of bylines, as well as 3,400+ entries in this blog, two half-finished novels in drawers, several unpublished short stories, lots of unpublished poems, and a big box full of handwritten journals. I have a few published stories and poems, and I've won a few contests, but still . . . no book.

20. By the time I am 65, I hope that I have . . . improved my health and written and published that damned book.
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I encourage you to visit other participants in Sunday Stealing posts and leave a comment. Cheers to all us thieves who love memes, however we come by them. (This is my 170th time to play Sunday Stealing!)