This past week I started taking an American Sign Language class at the community college. It is something I have wanted to do for quite a long time and I finally decided to enroll and do it. I am excited about the class. For one thing, it is in person. It feels like a million years since I have done anything “in person”; my life has been lived on zoom for the past 13 months. Everyone must wear a mask; we are spaced six feet apart in the classroom; and there is enough hand sanitizer available to pretty much cover all of North Carolina. I feel quite safe and, as I said already, very excited to be there.
One thing I noticed though is that out of the class of about 30 I think there are 3 of us who are older than thirty years old. I quickly noticed how quickly those younger than me learn and remember things. Wow! Was I like that once? I guess I was. Everyone is friendly and kind, but I am definitely aware that they probably view me as their kindly old mother (or grandmother)—and yes, I now know the ASL signs for both those words.
I came across this poem by Samantha Reynolds today as I went through some old files. It is one of my favorites. Getting older should not be something we moan about or take for granted; it is a gift. In this pandemic time, aging is a true gift. Aging is something to celebrate even as our brains slow up a bit and our bodies take on a more rounded profile.
I Am Not Old
I am not old…she said
I am rare.
I am the standing ovation
at the end of the play.
I am the retrospective
of my life as art.
I am the hours
connected like dots
into good sense.
I am the fullness
of existing.
You think I am waiting to die,
but I am waiting to be found.
I am a treasure.
I am a map.
And these wrinkles are
imprints of my journey
Ask me anything.
+ + +
Let us celebrate today that we are all rare, that we are all the standing ovation. I am sure that God thinks so and so do I. So do I.
Even me, your daughter, is old now! Love your words!
Yes, you are... I took a web design course about 20 years ago. Oldest one in the PVCC class. It was a traditional html language class. No app shortcuts. My 20-something year old classmates were coding up a storm. Their websites looked awful but they were done in 2 hours. I was deliberating over the weight of a line width and which font to use. Might have looked great eventually, but I could never finish the coding