Someday….You Will Turn Around….

Let’s talk a second about older folks.

People, get your kids down off their high horses, get them together and make them sit down and read this.

Bribe them….. Cookies work well………………or at least some microwave popcorn.

Let’s just center on young girls right now….not to pick on them, but it makes it easier to talk one subject at a time, when you get my age…………..(I feel an eye roll here, STOP THAT, MISS BALL BEARING.)

First off, you snooty young girls need to know…..everyone gets older.  I hate to force this terrible truth upon you when you are having such a good hair day……..but….

Most people end up, in one way or the other, sick and dying. I know this is not a subject to joke about and it’s hard at times to even talk about. It’s the unavoidable truth, so don’t be stupid young folks, and avoid it.

You know those old women you see riding around in carts in the grocery store, talking to themselves, dressed in floppy clothing and ugly shoes, hair thinning, buying cheap food because their social security check is only five hundred dollars a month, purse clutched to their chest because someone may steal it right out of the cart? Well, honey, let me assure you, one day that’s gonna be YOU!!

You think now that your shiny, long hair, your pretty skin, your tight butt, your allowance you don’t even have to earn, your cute shoes, your painted nails, your memory,  your ability to go up and down stairs without hurting, your handsome football playing boyfriends………….you think you will have it forever.

You couldn’t be more wrong.

I still have friends from long ago, even as far back as first grade. We were little together. We went through everything together. We remember ourselves without wrinkles, painful hips, and ugly toenails. We remember………………yes, we do.

It comes to be that we accept who we have become. Some, actually many, of us have illnesses that cause us to seem crazy or embarrassing to you young folks. One day, you will be the embarrassing one, not the embarrassed one. I’m telling you from the bottom of my southern heart, that this is no lie.

I know you find it hard to believe it now, so let me suggest this:

If you have a parent or grandparent you would rather not be around, or be seen with, check your selfish, prissy tailed, self.

You would not even be here to priss around in those tight jeans if it hadn’t been for them!

You may not realize how much you look, and act, like they did at your age. After all, your genes are their genes!!

If you can’t force yourself to celebrate having these old people as your family, the least you can do is show respect when they can’t remember something, can’t find their glasses, have to have help getting down the stairs, need to be driven somewhere, talk a bit crazy, use memories to try to communicate with you, or spin in circles when they can’t remember why they came into a room.

Honey, hush, cause this is gonna be YOU. I mean, it will happen before you can turn around twice.

I hope you read this and swear and promise to yourself to show respect to the elderly ones in your family. And, then, I hope you actually fulfill your promise to yourself.

Your mother carried you inside her body for months, hurting, fat, sweating, wearing her husband’s shirts, saving her pennies, doing without to get the things you need, going back and forth to doctors, worrying about your health and hers, planning and working,  just to see that you came into this world.

She showed you to everyone because you were so beautiful and perfect! You were her reason to live!!!

She worried for you, your present and future. The thing she wanted most in this world was your happiness and success.

So, don’t look at her like she’s nuts when she forgets something, or starts talking and can’t continue (or can’t stop).

If she becomes ill, spend the time with her that she would spend with you. Hold her hand, because age does not keep you from being afraid.

You may have no idea what you mean to your parents and grandparents. They truly believe there is no greater gift than you.

So, why not make yourself the hero? You are never too young or pretty to be a hero. Imagine the pride your crazy, old parents and grandparents will have when they are able to say you were always there for them.

Maybe you haven’t been. Maybe you have made fun of them, turned your backs on them, or been ashamed of them.

If you have, then that is your misfortune. Pay some positive attention to them, and see how many rewards you reap, right here on earth.

And remember, there is nothing more beautiful than a sincere, joyful smile on the face of an old person………….Imagine that smile is directed toward you…………..and it’s coming from the old person who will soon be………..YOU!

Shape up, pretty girls. Your old age is just around the corner…………………..and God bless you for the good things you are surely going to do for the older people in your family, right after you read this……..