Aging Ungracefully

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Earlier this month I turned 43. No, I am not old by any means, although I do have grown children and five grandchildren. That in itself can make a person feel old at times. I've been noticing things the last few years. I've had bad eyesight since I was little, and started wearing bi-focals when I was 37. Of course, I felt too young to wear something such as bi-focals, so I opted for the no line lenses. Ok, I can deal with bad eyesight, I'm used to that, but after I turned 40, other things started happening. I developed a severe throbbing pain in my right ankle. Putting it off as something caused by standing on my feet all day, I waited to go to the doctor till I couldn't stand it anymore. He diagnosed it as tendenitis. It never got any better. By the next year, I developed the same pain in my left ankle. I went back to the doctor. Arthritis, my dear. Joy. At 42, suddenly my left knee started popping and cracking and hurting like the dickens especially when I climbed stairs. I was told by the doctor that my ligaments around my knee are loose and aren't holding my knee together properly, hence the popping and pain. Now I am 43, and I have a persistent pain in my lower back, whenever I sit too long, stand too long, bend over, well, you get the picture. I hate all these aches and pains. I live with them because I have no choice. I hate getting out of bed in the morning and feeling stiff. My hands hurt awful at times, I can't hear as well as I used too. And I know these are just the beginning of the aging process. I refuse to let these things beat me down though. Even if it is true that everything goes down hill after 40, old age will have to drag me away kicking and screaming. After all, I am ONLY 43.