We look at ourselves in the mirror everyday, but we really don't see ourselves. We seem to always look the same. Then one day it hits us right in the face, and I mean, right in the face. There are wrinkles on our forehead, there's some in the middle of our face right between our eyes. They, whoever they are, say wrinkles come from worrying. I guess those wrinkles got there from worrying about getting older. Of course wrinkles appear for different reasons. Some come from being in the sun too much or worrying where the kids are when they are late getting home, some families are just wrinkled, and I am sure there are other reasons I haven't thought about. If you don't have wrinkles, you must of had a facelift.

How did it happen that my hair turned gray overnight?

I looked in the mirror one morning and was shocked to see that overnight my hair had turned gray. Why, just yesterday I didn't have even one gray hair, much less a whole head full. Well, maybe I had one or two gray hairs but that was all. What happened? This I can't explain except to say the years have gone by so fast that I just didn't realize I was old enough to have gray hair. Of course there are people who start getting gray when they are young, but not me, I waited so I could be surprised.

How did it happen that I can't do the things I used to do?

As we age our bodies change, little by little. We move slower but don't realize it until we see the turtles passing us. Our minds are much slower to go than our bodies and that makes life more difficult. Age brings many changes to our body and our mind during our lifetime, some good and some not so good. Even though we have learned many things over the years, there are some things we have a hard time grasping. Our minds tell us we can do everything we used to do, the same way, maybe even better and our bodies tell use they can't and won't work that much or that hard anymore. What a sad day that is.

How did all these things happen and I never realized it was happening?

Well I guess we have such a good time when we are young that we just didn't realize it doesn't last forever. Fifty seems to be the magic age to start getting parts replaced and going to the doctor with a pain here and a pain there. And of course your AARP cards shows up in your mailbox.

My AARP card? I'm too young for that. That's for old people. Your AARP card is a wake up call for what lies ahead. Who started that saying about the "golden years". What is golden about getting older. The folks around us don't seem to realize we can still hear, don't yell at us. We don't have to have someone to help us get around, not yet anyway. We can still do our jobs, we don't need to be forced into retirement. Aging is a process we have to go through, even if we don't like it. But let me say this, it is not all bad, you get a senior citizen's discount in many places.

How did it happen that I have had such an great life?

I had to work at it and it is not over yet. I plan to keep computing and writing until.......

All of these are my thoughts on how it happens.