Is It Aging Or What?

When aging, it is an interesting time, sometimes a fun time, sometimes not. I told my daughter yesterday, that I don't think of myself as being old until she has a birthday or I realize that she is getting old. It is the strangest thing.

When we had this conversation we were headed for the reservation for glasses and lunch. The reservation that I grew up closest to and the place I had my two babies is not the reservation I am from. I feel most comfortable there as the staff and patients there are primarily Native American.

When we were leaving home, she said she would pick me up. I think she was concerned that I needed glasses and didn't have them yet. The glasses didn't take long to order. A pretty purple frame. After all, I don't have pretty purple hair like my sister-in-law and friend.

There was rack upon rack of glasses to choose from. It didn't take long as she was all business, while I visited with a man that looked old and was my age, and the new eye technician, who took my brother's place in the office. I have good insurance but he recommended I go there.

We finished and decided to have lunch in the next town. Our plans are with my granddaughter/niece and my daughter's daughter/cousin. It had been a while and so we were at lunch from 11:00 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. Nonstop catching up.

We went to the nearby town as our only option for lunch on the reservation was the casino and my niece was not having lunch there. I told her I had eaten the food as I was at a few meetings where lunch was ordered from the casino and their food was good. I guess it isn't the food.

Our time together was a catch-up on life as they age. My daughter has new positions in nursing that she is looking forward to starting. She explained to us that from research she read it is important for nurses to change positions more frequently to have a full nursing experience.

My niece is graduating from college with a degree in clinical social work. They both have three children that are close in age, so that was another topic. Of course, my daughter has 5 at home and a grandchild. The older children also needed some catching up on.

My granddaughter/niece's goal is to be a LICSW or licensed clinical social worker. I was told that you have to have that license for certain billing reasons. And that they are the only ones that can bill for a certain group of insured.

A therapist friend of mine came into the restaurant as I was about to eat dessert. So I went to have dessert with her. It was a catchup visit also as she had moved to my reservation to do healing touch for program participants there and was in town at the treatment program there.

We are closer in age, although she is younger. It seems sometimes that everyone is younger. I know that is not true as I am only 68. There are people in their seventies through one hundred plus. My husband's aunt whom we visited weekly for years died at 103.

I can't see across the forty acres behind our house as I could at one time. My husband would use the binoculars and I could see the deer. Now, not so much. Sometimes not at all. Glasses are sometimes needed before we age. It seems to have to do with aging for me.

This is my first time needing glasses, other than dollar store reading glasses and they told me I was borderline for glasses. I had to clarify what they meant by borderline. Terminology is interesting to me and I needed an explanation.

The eye doctor then made it clear that if I don't want to see across the field, I probably don't need glasses. Do I need glasses for driving? No. People first need glasses at all ages. I just happen to have not needed them until now. And I almost always blame aging.