Today I was helping an elderly lady at work and I had to see her ID and she said something like, "oh, ignore the number" or some jab at her age and I high-key just blurted, "aging is a wonderful thing, no reason to hide it."
And she laughed at me and told me that I only think that because I'm young.
So, me, not having any filter, said, "No, really. Aging is a wonderful thing, and a privilege many of my friends and loved ones may never have. There are so many who will never have the opportunity to know how life would have shaped them and the people they love, so don't be embarrassed about your age."
And she was really quiet for a second and I was worried for a bit, but then she finally said, "oh, I never thought about it like that. Thank you."
That was pretty much the end of it, but I've been thinking about it all day bc we live in a society that kind of idolizes eternal youth and so we have an entire older generation of people who resent young people or, like this lady, are for some reason ashamed of their ageing. Meanwhile, I'm part of the generation born just as the world really and truly started to take a turn for the worst, and every day I lament the fact that I will never get to see my friends faces when they've grown crow's feet by their eyes or worry lines in their foreheads. I look in the mirror and I wonder what I would look like if I were ever able to be a grandmother like the generations before me could, but I doubt I'll make it that long, and even if I did, I couldn't justify bringing a child into the world as it is. It makes me profoundly sad that all these people are squandering their elder years wishing to be younger without realizing how lucky they are to have had so many years.
I know ageing isn't easy for most people because bodies wear out and sometimes they become painful or unreliable, but there is joy in knowing someone lived so thoroughly that their bodies gave out under the weight of their experience. Sometimes I catch myself becoming so bitter and angry about it because they had their turn, they lived their lives so much longer than many of my friends ever will, and still they resent us for our youth. They'll have the privilege of dying of old age, having lived full and wonderful lives, while my generation stares down the fifth mass extinction event. They will pass on never having appreciated old age for what it is, never knowing that so many of us would give anything to have the chance to have lived as they got to.
It makes me unspeakably sad to see it and know I can never make them realize their fortune.