I didn’t think I was really getting older yet. But I am. I have seen discounts in many places for 55 and over for a long time. Fifty-five is not that old. I am sure my father’s generation would view 50-plus as older. That was old when I was a kid, and polite kids didn’t ask the ages of our elders.

Amazing discernment skills are necessary in being a nice kid.

Well, in talking with the daughter of my oldest living first cousin, she said my black hair is getting some gray in it. I remember when she was born. I was in high school.

The worst thing is, COVID took a toll on my hair. I lost so much maybe I could be half bald if I got COVID again. So, again, growing old is not for the timid or the vain.

Now I am in the Medicare age group. Well, how many of us now know “Uncle Arthur,” or arthritis. Uncle Arthur was the kidding name of arthritis when I was a kid.

I have bursitis in my shoulder joints and apparently arthritis in my right knee, which hurts more than my left knee.

I am not sure what to take for the discomfort of it all. I even had insult added to injury with arthritis in my left wrist that had a plate in it. I crushed it in September 2018. That seems not right — can I just have one problem there?

But then both wrists sure feel better with a brace on during most of the day. I have always had knee and ankle braces because of sports. But this is new, needing braces for pain, not for support and healing.

This is really hard for me, growing older. But I am not a wimp.

Facebook sometimes makes me feel old. I even saw that Godzilla was a superhero in 1978. I sure don’t remember that, but I love Godzilla. The movies are so bad they’re good. The kicker is, my kids, some of them have looked up Schoolhouse Rock.

I remember a few of them. That is so funny to hear my kids singing the songs. I love it.

It's sad to think some of the cartoons or characters around when we were little are gone. My husband remembers Captain Kangaroo better than myself. Friends seem to remember the After School Specials. I tried to watch Dark Shadows, but that wasn’t seen as a good thing. I did sneak to a friend’s house to watch, her mother didn’t care.

I can’t remember the Saturday morning cartoons, I was usually gone. TV wasn’t that important to me. My mother was a TV addict. I would rather read or put together models, my preference was boats.

But I miss the Veggie Tales, they were so awesome. Veggie Tales was a good influence for my kids, or at least I thought so. I can even remember a few of the songs. But they are not relevant anymore, or at least it seems that way. I gave the videos away a long time ago. Which is sad, but times are a-changing.

Gena Sterling was born and raised in Texas. Gena also lived in Oklahoma, where she met her husband. She and her family moved to Roswell in January 1995. She can be reached at writingaddict57@gmail.com. The views expressed in this column are those of the author.

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