The Laughing Wolf

What Makes You Feel Old?

The last couple of weeks have been all too interesting, but what I am ready to process and share are some things that have conspired to make me feel old. There are things in life that make us feel young, full of vim and vigor, ready to take on the world and convinced we can do it. Then there are the things that make us feel old beyond our years.

One of the things that has made me feel old lately was meeting up with a young lady at the Games. Now, I have known this young lady since she was about 12 or so and even took her to some games. At a young age, she got interested in her roots and when her family wasn’t, she went ahead and researched it on her own and got involved. Her family was not overly supportive, and it was a struggle for her to get to any game. I helped out a bit, even go so far as to take her to a game or two and making sure she had a room. With a chaperone to protect her from big bad wolves (and to protect us big bad wolves from any chance of accusations). It was a true pleasure to be invited to her high school graduation and to see a well-mannered and thoughtful girl turn into a well-mannered young lady.

This weekend was interesting. It was so very good to see her, to meet her husband, and to catch up a bit. She is still quite lovely, well-mannered, and charming. She is also pregnant. I felt old.

I haven’t felt that old in years in some ways. It was another young lady who did it to me then. Years ago, the English Werewolf and I attended a convention/conference when rooms still had keys. You know, the type you had to play with sometimes to get them to work. There was a girl trying to get into the room next to ours, who probably did not quite clear my belt. We helped her out, showed her how to deal with the key situation, and she caught on quickly – good mechanical aptitude. We hit it off with her parents later, and got to know the family. Flash forward many years, and I am at the same convention/conference. There is a tall, beautiful young lady walking around that I give the once over. She sees me and comes over, puts her hands on my shoulders, looks down at me and says “You’ve shrunk.”

No prizes for guessing who she was.

Adding to some of the blows of late are some neighbors of mine. They seem to be nice people, friendly, and far too well mannered. Every one of them call me sir. Every time. I applaud the manners, but on at least one level it hurts. Particularly from the young ladies.

So, what makes you feel old? Why does it make you feel old? Are you truly looking at it the right way? What makes you feel young? Why? Are you truly looking at it the right way? Should we not consider that what makes us feel young may really only be making us feel immature again, and that which makes us feel old does so because it limits our ability to be immature? Think on it a bit today, and go find something to make yourself feel young again for all the right reasons.

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