I wanted to share this with you...

I just had to share this.  I got it from my dear friend Sue Haddox.  I met Sue twenty years ago when she was teaching Head Start kids and I went to speak to her class about public safety, and I loved the kids so much that I went back a few times just to help out.  


This little online essay packs a lot of wisdom into a few words.  I'll only add to it by saying that if you are one of those who is so concerned with what shirt to wear and what the other kids will think if you do this and don't do that, please try to remember that you are only here to please yourself and the one you love.  What other people think of us is none of our business!


I don't know who wrote this, but I sure do like it!  Please share it with the ones you love, as I just did.

As I've aged, I've become kinder to myself, and less critical of myself. I've become my own friend...  
 
 I have seen too many dear friends leave this world too soon; before they understood the great freedom that comes with aging.
 
 Whose business is it if I choose to read or play on the computer until 4 AM or sleep until noon? I will dance with myself to those wonderful tunes of the 60 & 70's, and if I, at the same time, wish to weep over a lost love... I will.
 I will walk the beach in a swim suit that is stretched over a bulging body, and will dive into the waves with abandon if I choose to, despite the pitying glances from the jet set.
 
 They, too, will get old.

I know I am sometimes forgetful.  But there again, some of life is just as well forgotten. And I eventually remember the important things.
 
 Sure, over the years my heart has been broken. How can your heart not break when you lose a loved one, or when a child suffers, or even when somebody's beloved pet gets hit by a car? But broken hearts are what give us strength and understanding and compassion. A heart never broken is pristine and sterile and will never know the joy of being imperfect.
 
I am so blessed to have lived long enough to have my hair turning gray, and to have my youthful laughs be forever etched into deep grooves on my face.

So many have never laughed, and so many have died before their hair could turn silver.

 As you get older, it is easier to be positive. You care less about what other people think. I don't question myself anymore...
 I've even earned the right to be wrong.
 
 So, to answer your question, I like being old. It has set me free. I like the person I have become. I am not going to live forever.
 
 But while I am still here, I will not waste time lamenting what could have been, or worrying about what will be. And I shall eat dessert every single day (if I feel like it).

 MAY OUR FRIENDSHIP NEVER COME APART ESPECIALLY WHEN IT'S STRAIGHT FROM THE HEART!