Things that make you feel old

I have a thick red beard straight out of the Scottish Highlands. There is no doubt my mother's ancestry. I say that to mention I found a white hair intermingled with the red. I thought it was a stray hair from my cats. I went to remove it but it was firmly attached to my face. I have pledged to myself that going grey will just be something I will own and not try to cover it up. Seeing that hair, however, affected me more than I want to admit.

 

Being old.

 

I started going grey in university. My beard is now pretty much totally white. I was recently thinking about hitting some Just For Men, but then a buddy got the worst chemical burns in history on his face from it. The wind hurt him for weeks. Better just to accept what the follicle gods give you.

 

Or what they take AWAY from you. Sigh.

 

I'm 47, but my beard is now completely white.

I saw a picture of myself last week at a foundation board meeting, and I told two of my colleagues I look like a hipster Burl Ives.

 

That's the truest thing I've read all month.

 

Pallbearer duty. Aside from the obvious sad implications, it is torture on arthritic fingers and wrists (see above cartoon).

 

Back pain. I've got two bad discs and they are not next to each other. L2-L3 and L4-L5. L3-L4 is ok. This requires two injection sites. Looking forward to my next treatment at a pain management clinic.

I fear back surgery may be in my future. Ugh.

 

I grew a beard this year for the first time. It came in mostly gray -- and I had someone tell me it made me look younger.

 

Maybe being built like a jockey has helped me avoid the aches and pains. My old-age feelings are almost universally cultural and began the day someone decided "boys" should be spelled with a "z".

 

I didn't realize I complained so much about my back until my son started using "But, my back hurts!" as an excuse to get out of cleaning up his room.