My Resolutions for Old Age

The other day I was doing my supermarket tour de force and was suddenly realizing, that by far the most other people in the place were in fact old people, I mean really old. They did not look happy and the old prejudice, that "AGE" is something dreadful was more than evidently right, or so it seemed to be.
I was looking around myself and thought, that this, here in Europe, will be very soon the "normal" situation. Somehow this was not a comfortable thought and I wondered about how the world will look, when we are all old, tottering around with small steps and little eyesight, buying ready made meals and dreading to go home to the TV. They did not look like they were enjoying themselves.Nobody smiled back, as I smiled at them. How sad, I thought.

I myself have always loved the company of old people.
Unfortuantely I never knew my grandparents, as they were or dead, when I was born, or lived far away, in Canada. The father of my mother spent the last few years with us in Bavaria, but I do not have any particular memory of him, only that he had a great beard, a lot of books and a jar with sticky bonbons in his room.
I do remember though my grandmother painting me, when I was 2 or 3 years old. And I remember also that I liked her, that she was kind and somehow fun - even if I could give you no more concret description about this fact. But I felt, that my mother was happy, when she was there.

One of my best friends and much missed was a lady 42 years older than me. I was lucky to work for her at Antiques faires, and we drank many a bottle of champagne together, sitting there and watching the public walk by. We had fun, indeed. I really loved her in a sense of a sister soul, if you know what I mean.
She was an alert and very interested woman, knowing her abilities, open-minded, wise, full of humour, a little bit naughty, discreet and always interested what was going on around her. I learned to love white wine with her, met many different and also weird people, many of them much older or not so much older - it was always interesting at her place. She loved life.  As I still think about her almost every day, I would like to say, that she was by far one of the people I know, who had a great influence in my life.

Nowadays it is not fashionable to be "old". This is a pity. We miss out on so much - and the "old" people miss out as well. There were times in history, when this was different. Old people were asked for opinions, could be of great help in the family, bringing up the children, while parents were working out of the house. They had more patience for their grandchildren than for their own children, because they had lived a life and could watch it from a different point of view. More calmly, philosophically.


If I think about myself getting older and older, I have already for a long time taken various solutions. Old people are interesting and lovable - or at least they should be. Most people who are old and lonely are also unhappy and therefore not too good company.
So, what is to be done to be and stay "good company"?

First of all, I will keep a life of my own. If I stay healthy and somehow fit, I see myself more than enough rushing around from one friend or child to another, coming only when invited and not staying to long. I will give advice if asked, but respect the decisions of my children. They owe me nothing. They have to live their own life. Good advice: Bite your tongue, a bad word cannot be retrieved.
I will in any case try to stay always clean and well groomed, smelling lovely of my scent, so that my children/grandchildren/friends will remember my scent whenever they will smell it later. I will try to cook the food that busy parents cannot cook, and I will try to start up conversations with the young, so that they learn to stand on their own and have opinions of their own. It is the job of the older generation to help young people to loose their shyness about many things in life and often a difficult conversation is easier to be held with a beloved and trusted elderly friend than with a parent.

I will always be very good dressed and made up. I will laugh readily. I will drink my whisky and gin tonic. I will be interested in politics and culture, will be interested in the opinion of others and especially of the young ; I will be only too glad, if they tell me about their dreams and plans, and will offer only advice, if asked.
I plan to make the world comfortable to be with me and looking forward to my company.

I will not complain about my miseries, we all have them. I will keep my own group of friends and try to mix all ages together. I will be interested in fashion and some aspects, that are perhaps not ususal, so that I have always something interesting to tell.
My house will be in perfect order, smelling nicely and full of flowers, with good food and a comfortable salon, where people feel welcome and at home. I will have a dog, definitely.

And I will finally buy myself the leopard trousers I long to have, paint my fingernails red and start to write this novel I have been thinking of for years. I will eat cake and love it!!!