Marcy B. N. -age 71 - Kathleen Cosgrove

Of aging. I preferred to blow right past that fact, and embraced the notion that I would not be limited by
age, age is just a number, right? and I prefer to rage against the age anyway.
This inner belief in many ways has served me well. While I watched some of my peers slowing down, traveling
in smaller and smaller circles with narrowing interests, I decided it was time to get my doctorate
to ensure I remained relevant and influential in my field. I married the love of my life, a younger man, no
less, “late in life” and threw myself into a variety of passions that fed my soul such as painting, cooking,
gardening, and the arts.
And yet the reality is I am, indeed, aging. Facing this truth has been challenging but is something I
have come to acknowledge and even embrace. Like seasoned wood that is readily ignited, I enter this
phase of my life well served by many hard-earned life lessons having lived through hardships and tragedies
and coming out the other side, eventually surviving and even thriving. Armed with the knowledge
that time is shorter now, I live with intention not wishing to squander even one day. I relish meaningful
human connections, love and laughter while manifesting an acute low tolerance for fools, bullshit,
and negative energy. To my surprise I really have begun to figure out how not to sweat the small stuff and
am at ease in situations that my younger self would have bristled and agonized over.
So, feeling my age?? Well yes, as a matter of fact I am. While acutely aware of some physical limitations
of a body that has served me well for 7 decades, I strive to treat it with understanding, gratitude, and
tenderness, like a dear old friend.