Tonight, I'm the kind of tired that feels hard-earned. The odometer hit 4000 miles, my bloodstream is 40 percent cookie, and I’m about to climb into an awkward Airbnb bed so tall it should come with a Sherpa.
But I'm good-tired. The kind that arrives after seeing family for Thanksgiving in both Colorado and New Mexico.
Somewhere between gas stations and the existential nostalgia of road trips and playlists, I started thinking about my parents, my family, all of us — aging. I was thinking about this because I spent two weeks watching my parents figuring out what it means to be in their 70s. They've done all the dumb things so we don’t have to. Or maybe, so we can do our own brand of dumb, but better.
Listening to them, watchng them, slows me down. It gives me permission to let go of some of the frantic frenzied fears that tell me if I don't bust ass every singl day then I'm falling behind. This is patient work. Decaf work. Aging isn’t an enemy. It’s the world quietly asking you to pay attention.
On that note, check out
this incredible story of a BA grandma doing some real living in her later years. It comes from a
great channel of many stories.
