Category Archives: Rave
A Message to Remind Mom of Her Strengths When She Forgets
Rave:
A Message to remind Mom of her strengths when she forgets:
As I wrote in my blog dated August 8, 2018: http://newageaging.com/aging-words-wisdom-last-woman-standing/ even though my 98-year-old Mom has a wonderful attitude on life every once in a while she’ll cry.
We were curled up on the couch one afternoon on my last visit and there she was through tearful eyes apologizing for forgetting things and needing my help.
As I held her tight, this is what I said:
No one needs to tell me how lucky I am that you are here and thriving at 98 years old.
When you say that Susan, Linda and I are your crowning achievements I think to myself, ‘Really?’ Your strength always shone, holding your head up high as a single Mom in the ’50s when being divorced was a stigma. You received no child support from your ex (my father) and raised your three girls by selling vacuum cleaners strictly on commission at a major department store. Your daughters are/were proud of you for winning all kinds of sales awards. The word reached the two best-known vacuum cleaner companies in the region who sent their salespeople to you for training. That, to me, is an achievement!
You have taught me a lot about love, life and overcoming adversity.
Upon you hearing my voice you tell me your heart beats a little faster.
I always respond ‘no’ when you ask me, “Hey, did I tell you today that I love you?” even though you had, just so I can hear you say it again.
No matter what, I have always felt safe, loved and taken care of and I am eternally grateful.
You have loved me unconditionally. There is nothing you could do or no weakness you could show that would make me love you less.
I will be there for you always. Don’t worry about a thing.
I comfort her by saying all of the above with the hope that it soothed her heart and spirit. Her smile lets me know it had.
Then I said, ‘Ya know Mom, even though I felt safe and taken care of there were times when I wasn’t very happy with you.” “Really…when was that?” she responded with a surprised look on her face.
Here was some of the list I gave her…
- I assumed you would help me make my prom dress for my home economics project because your parents were wonderful tailors. Come to find out you didn’t know how to sew on a button let alone run a sewing machine!
- You said the word ‘penis’ in front of my girlfriends when I was in the 7th grade and even though that was the time we were sent home with booklets describing such things, I wanted to DIE! DIE! DIE! To this day, a friend of mine tells me I still have feelings around that one!
- You found out I cut school and when I asked you how you knew, you said you had a direct line to G-D! That made it really hard to ever do THAT again!!
Attitude:
A Message to remind Mom of her strengths when she forgets:
By the end of our talk, we were ‘rolling on the floor’ with laughter, as we say in our family. Those big ol’ tears evolved into giddy tears of joy.
And then I remembered a saying on Mom’s fridge by author Vivian Greene: “Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass. It’s about learning how to dance in the rain.”
No worries Mom, along with lots of other things, I hope I’ll never forget that I learned how to dance in the rain from you too.
We all have people in our lives that have taught us how to dance in the rain. Have you let them know how precious they are? Because believe it or not, we all forget sometimes!
Originally posted 2018-08-22 12:18:22.
Three Reasons to Revive Your Inner Boomer
Rave
We won’t be stereotyped: Kudos to Senior Planet: In an on-line article, dated 12/28/2013, they wrote: 12 Things You’ll Regret When You’re Old(er). Number 8 is ‘Letting yourself be defined by cultural expectations. Like the expectation that we’ll fade into the background as we get older.’ I would like to add the words ‘society’s expectations’ as well. Whether we marched, burned draft cards, got married, lived in communes, burned bras, or started a job, we had opinions on a variety of subjects and we did express them then and will continue to do so.
Rant
We rebel: In December 2013, I attended a panel discussion at a prestigious PR firm on the subject of marketing to baby boomers. I thought, “Great, the marketing world is finally getting it.” Hanging around the room were posters depicting gray-haired men and women dressed in subdued conservative clothing. Black, white, Asian, it didn’t matter-everything was gray! Later, there was a film presentation and with one lone exception, again all gray-hair and subdued colors. I asked the panelists, “Who created your promotional pieces for today? I’m a 66 year-old woman and not all the boomers I know look alike, nor do they all look like the people you have in your video and posters.” The response from the creative team was that they had gone to their clip art library and that’s all they had. I know beautiful women and handsome men with gray or white hair, however not all of us are gray, nor are our lives and that’s the rant. I believe these stereotypes wrongly put us in categories with very strict boundaries. Let’s not allow a ‘clip art’ world to define who we are. Boomers and boundaries? I don’t think so!
Attitudes
We are aware: Here we are finding our voice once again. The movement is quieter. We are talking among ourselves, more likely, over a glass of wine than a psychedelic drug. It’s the women leading the battle this time. I believe boomer men think the same, but seem happy to let us take the lead on this war. We still have flower power, it’s just ground up in the latest ‘anti-aging’ products the PR firms are trying to sell us.
I’m not planning on this blog being only about Boomers. I realize reaching any age milestone can be scary. What all of us can refuse to do is allow age milestones or society’s misguided beliefs make us lose our identity.
That is what I love about my 94 (on Feb.2nd) year old Mom. She has a clear definition of who she is and has never allowed other people’s beliefs or societal stereotypes limit her.
Mom two weeks ago
These are a few of the words I use to define who I am: Colorful, happy, energetic, involved, athletic, contributor, a blogger.
What are some of the words you would use to define you? Tell me.
Originally posted 2014-01-22 17:57:36.
Intro: The Art of Being a Baby Boomer
Raves:
This blog is about empowering baby boomers, physically, emotionally and creatively.
Rants:
We were loud and proud in the heyday of the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s It’s time we were again. This blog is also about breaking societal stereotypes on aging by bringing awareness to the forefront on who baby boomers are and who we are not.
Attitudes:
My desire is that you will join this conversation. Along with help from you and others, including a high-heeled, gym-going, red nail polish wearing, ribbon in her hair, 93 year old woman, who happens to be my Mom, we can share tips and ideas that will propel us forward, re-shaping our own thoughts and society’s ideas about us along the way.
Stay tuned. There is lots more to come…Soon!
Originally posted 2014-01-20 00:28:50.
10 Steps to Renewal at Any Age
Rant:
10 Steps to Renewal at any Age
Renewal, what a great word. I wonder if we stop thinking about renewal, OUR OWN, after a certain age? Do you ever think about renewal and refreshing your life?
There is so much talk about meditation as a good way to refresh. And I agree, if I could shut my swirling mind off for awhile! So, I wondered, what renews me?
Rave:
10 Steps to Renewal at any Age
Here are five of my personal favorites:
- April Fool’s Day. One of my favorite days. It’s right around the corner. Why not think of something to do that will get a giggle out of you and whomever you ‘fool.’ I get Jake every year. He hates bugs so at the right time I scream, “You have a spider crawling on you!” Then I stand back and watch him try to find the spider and get it off him! It’s a riot. Oh boy, I can’t wait! (Don’t tell him!!)
- The Gotcha’ game. Walk up to someone and say, “You have a spot on the front of your shirt.” When they look down to see where it is you take the side of your index finger and gently tap them on the underside of their nose and say, “Gotcha.” Ok, ok….I get it…But when was the last time you played that ‘Gotcha’?
- Play board games. Mexican Train is my favorite at the moment!
- Call someone who loves you. When I’m blue and need a virtual hug, I call my dear friends or family members just to say hello. I usually don’t tell them I’m blue. Just hearing their voices, their happiness because I called, grounds me and I’m all better.
- Be Creative. It can be the simplest thing. I have said before that Mom has the cutest little girl inside her.”Hi Mom,” I said when I called last week. “Whatcha doin’?” “I’m playing dress up in my closet.” Mother has always used her appearance as a form of creativity. It’s one of the fun steps she takes that renews her . In the March 2017 O (Oprah) magazine, (which you can only view on-line if you pay for it-I bought it), is an article, on page 117, called: ‘Does Your Style Match Your Soul.’ It speaks to how clothes reflect who we are.
Mom’s certainly do:
One of Mom’s steps to renewal
Attitude:
10 Steps to Renewal at any Age
Here are 5 more:
- Do something wonderful just for you. A friend said she always keeps her house and her car in great shape, now it is her turn.
- Play. Like you did when you were a kid. How about Zip lining? To watch one of my buddies run over a bridge and take a flying leap was priceless. It was priceless because she was making the funniest sounds while doing it. And right there her little girl showed up and so did everybody else’s kid!
- Watch a Parade.
Alexandria’s St. Patty’s Day Parade
Alexandria Virginia has 3 parades a year. Military Bands, clown cars, dogs dressed up, kids, kids and more kids. I laughed and giggled and waved and sang. I searched Google: ‘How to find parades in your area.’ There were 85,700,000 results!!
- Volunteer. Helping others is one of the best feelings in the world. Renewal at it’s finest.
- LOL. Laugh out loud. I mean really out loud. So loud that people will be looking at you wondering what’s so funny!
Please scroll down to Leave A Reply and share the steps you take. I know your reply will be appreciated by others. I will re-post this blog with your responses.
But before you do…you have a spot on the front of your shirt…GOTCHA’!
Originally posted 2017-03-09 21:12:08.