How to grow old gracelessly

Greeks (or American’s of Greek descent) do not age according to my mother.  My mother never celebrated her birthday around us kids.  I knew it was sometime in March since she was in possession of a birthstone ring, but the year and actual date was anybody’s guess. She figured that if you didn’t have a birthday cake overloaded with candles, she could just forget about it and be any age she desired. Herein lies the problem with hiding your age…eventually, it comes to the point where you have to start lying about your kid’s ages.  You see someone who is 45 years old cannot possibly have a child who it 40.  So they become 25.  As the kids get older and older it gets harder and harder to hide your age.  God help you when the grandkids come along. Sometimes you just stay silent and don’t mention that they are even your children.  Hopefully, they won’t call you Mom in front of anyone. You also may...

So I am gracelessly writing this in advance of my impending twilight years.  I always feel a bit down when birthdays loom.  They say when something bothers you to write it down.  Even if no one ever reads this but me, maybe it will ward off the doldrums. The dictionary defines gracelessly with many negative words. Words like impolitely, rudely, offensively and even clumsily describe it’s meaning.  Don’t get me wrong.  I have no intention to be rude or offensive.  But to be honest, can you really define aging as anything less than offensive?  How can one describe aging as being graceful? The dictionary does an about-face with the word graceful, using words like elegant, charming and stylish. So I won’t be aging gracefully. Seriously, I could never quite get the connection about aging as a graceful process.  Is it charming for your eyebrows to grow thin with a smattering of gray hairs?  And when y...