It sneaks up on you and bites you in the butt before you even realize it’s in the neighborhood. One day you are getting ready for work and you notice this old fart in the mirror is looking back at you. It’s an extremely horrible experience. You slap your palm to forehead and your wife hears you scream, “O. M. G. I’ve become an old fart” You catch yourself slowing the car for mild curves, eating smaller portions and, well frankly, start to smell antique. You begin to enjoy binge-watching “Family Feud” and other things you wouldn’t have been caught dead doing a few years before. What used to be a fine military bearing (You had spent years developing it) now becomes this “shuffle” thing. At least you catch yourself doing it before you’re aware of it, jerk yourself to attention, and remind yourself you will probably live a few more years so suck it up and walk normally.
There are some plusses though. You stop caring much about what people think about you. Sort of a relief not trying to make certain everyone takes you seriously. Your kids and grandkids become a source of great delight (Well mine have) You lose a lot of the drive to get into trouble, I don’t care what the old fart movies tell you. It’s a different season and has its ups and downs. Might as well surrender to it. No one can run fast enough to stay ahead of it so you learn to stop and smell the mothballs as the rest of your adventure plays out.
