Living “Jauntily”

              The writer Clare Booth Luce has been quoted as saying, “If old age means a crown of thorns, the trick is to ear it jauntily.”  Because I was born before 1940, I certainly know what it means to wear a “crown of thorns;” however, I just was not exactly sure what “jauntily” means.  So I looked up the word and found some great synonyms.

              Now when I look in the mirror in the morning and wonder who is that old, wrinkled-face woman looking back at me, I can be “lighthearted,” and say to myself, “Kay, you’re still alive. Be thankful, and go face the day.”

              A “thorn” that continues to grow daily affects my eyesight.  I can’t see well (hardly) at all without my glasses.  I have three pairs so I can deal with my life, but often I can’t find any of them.  So I guess instead of muttering under my breath and stomping around the house, I must go about “briskly” to find them because I know all three pairs are somewhere nearby.

              Occasionally, I will step into my kitchen before going to bed and find another “thorn.”  I have not turned off a gas burner from my supper preparations;   Instead of silently cursing myself as I turn it off, I should be “sprightly” and thankful that my home had not burned down.

              Another “thorn” of neglect that has grown up lately is that I leave the front door of my car open when I clear out all the stuff I have left in the front seat.  Hours later (sometimes even the next day), I find the front door of my car still wide open and the car completely dark.  Instead of mentally kicking myself for being so neglectful, I should react “cheerfully” because General Motors has made a car for old folk like me.  The battery closes down after so much time so that it doesn’t completely drain off power because of the old owner’s forgetfulness.

              How about the “thorn “of having to take a lot of pills?  I guess I should be “carefree,” thankful that pharmaceutical companies have come up with medicines that help me keep my blood pressure and cholesterol count down.

              The examples above do not cover all the “thorns” making up the full crown of old age with which many of you, no doubt, are acquainted.  We rarely sleep all night anymore; either we just wake easily, or we must get up to use the bathroom.  Driving at night becomes difficult; headlights of oncoming cars tend to blind us.  We find our balance becomes shaky, and we never use stairs anymore if we cannot hold on to a railing, going up or down.  Many of us do not have all our teeth and we wear hearing aids.  Of course, the prickliest “thorn,” the one that hurts the most is the loss of our friends. The older we become, the more we read the obituaries of people we have known, and we visit funeral homes often and sent out a lot of sympathy cards.

              So – really how do we deal with our crown of thorns “jauntily”?  I don’t have an answer.  I suspect we must live a day at a time and be thankful for what we have. I understand the actress Betty Davis first coined the phrase, “Old age ain’s for sissies.”  I say “Amen” to that.