Thoughts on Aging

I recently turned 29 and I can't believe this will be the last year of my 20's. I often think about what the future will hold and how my life is going to be different as I continue to get older. For me, picturing my life 5, 10, even 15 years from now doesn't seem difficult. I picture myself and Spencer living in a home with a pool and raising our children. I imagine a life jammed full of school activities, soccer practices, dance recitals, swim meets, birthdays, vacations, and lots of parties...a life that mostly revolves around our children, but a very happy life nonetheless. I imagine myself returning to work in the next 10 years and possibly even going back to school to get a Master's Degree. I look forward to the many years I will spend with my children while they are still living at home.

What is difficult for me to picture is my life after all our children are grown and have started families of their own, like when I am 60. When I think about grandmothers in general, I picture sweet old ladies who enjoy baking cookies for their grand kids and spending time with them. Won't I just naturally turn into this sweet old woman that I can picture so vividly in my head?
Recently I had the opportunity to spend several days with my grandmother, whom I don't get to see very often. I love her dearly and it was a treat to have her stay with us, but being with her made me realize that my perspective on old age was merely a delusion. I have to admit that I am a little frightened now of what I might turn in to once I hit about 60. Don't get me wrong, my grandma loves her grand kids and does bake cookies, but there is a whole other side of her that I wasn't aware of until after she stayed at my house for a few days.
As I was describing some of the activities I am involved in she asked me if I was part of a "tea-party" group. I instantly had images of fancy parties with little sandwiches, lemonade, fruit, and pastries. "What a fun idea," I thought to myself. As I was imagining how I could put together a monthly tea-party group my grandma went on to describe what her idea of a tea party was. I don't want to bore you with all the details (because believe me...I was bored!!) but the basis of a "tea-party" is a group of people who get together to discuss politics and raise money for the politicians they choose to back. No tea or little sandwiches are involved....BORING!!!

So maybe I should care a little bit more about the people running the government, but I don't think I will ever let it run the forefront of my life! I had no idea how many shows on television are dedicated to discussing politics, until grandma came to stay. I had never watched these men on television before and to be honest didn't know their names. My grandma stopped everything she was doing when these shows were on T.V. and watched intensely while they were on. (Bonus points if you can name both of the men in the following two pictures)

O.K. so maybe I am ignorant. Maybe I should pay more attention to politics. Maybe I should care about who the governor of California is. Maybe I should start a monthly group where we discuss the important issues of the world....Maybe.

Like I said before, it's hard to picture what life will be like in my 60's and 70's, now I wonder if there is a certain age when I will start caring more about political issues, and if I will stop everything at 3:00 in the afternoon to watch an over-opinionated republican (or democrat) on TV. Oh how I wish I could go back to thinking that being old just meant being sweet, baking cookies, taking naps, and being a little bit forgetful.