Aging Gracefully

My mom and dad returned to Texas today after spending a month with us in Malibu. I am in awe of their endless energy and enthusiasm for experiences. They are truly up for anything. Having an opportunity to be close to them for an extended bit of time, I realize that their day to day life is the secret of life.

My parents take a vigorous walk every morning. They meet and greet everyone in their path with a genuine sense of interest and kindness. They relish their newspapers, books, daily sudoku, emails, stock prices, barrage of grandchildren photos.

Lunchtime is exciting ~ my parents love good food and spend a decadent amount of time discussing the day’s fare. Back and forth on the options and benefits of kale salad, seared tuna, summer ripe tomatoes, my mom’s own tunafish salad, a perfect burger, fish tacos . . . at the end of the lively exchange it seems to always boil down to what my mother is “in the mood” for.

My teen queens and their friends and boyfriends were an endless source of entertainment and discussion. My parents, married for 47 years, dated from the age of 14! So, they take my teens seriously and make them and their peers feel as special as they are. 

My dad approaches everyone he meets as if he is interviewing them. He wants to learn as much about what you are willing to share ~ he’s not being nosey ~ he is just so genuinely interested in every human being, and he also knows how much we all enjoy talking about ourselves. Everyone loves my dad after a good chat.

At the end of the day, my mom and dad relax, take a walk, have a cocktail. They talk a little about tomorrow, a lot about today. They laugh.

Aging is a fact of life. Embracing it like my parents is the secret of life.