Any good poems or quotes to inspire an aging female?
OTS asked:
My Mom is turning 57, and this is the first birthday that she seems very upset about aging. When I brought up her birthday she teared up and said “I don’t want to get old”. I was hoping to find something inspirational or uplifting, either a poem, article or quote that could help her feel better.
April 30th, 2010 at 10:19 pm
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One of my favorites because I have been wearing purple (my favorite color) for years! I will be 52 in October and lovin’ it1
Congratulations to your mother! Embrace this part of life and be thankful for the wisdom!
May 2nd, 2010 at 3:40 am
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Remind your mom that turning 57 is better than the alternative. My favorite quote is “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans” – John Lennon.
The bottom line is, aging is one of those things we have no control over. All we can do is make the best of what time we have left.
May 4th, 2010 at 1:28 am
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This poem kind of started the “red hat club” stuff:
“Warning” by Jenny Joseph
When I am an old woman I shall wear purple
With a red hat which doesn’t go, and doesn’t suit me.
And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves
And satin sandals, and say we’ve no money for butter.
I shall sit down on the pavement when I’m tired
And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells
And run my stick along the public railings
And make up for the sobriety of my youth.
I shall go out in my slippers in the rain
And pick flowers in other people’s gardens
And learn to spit.
You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat
And eat three pounds of sausages at a go
Or only bread and pickle for a week
And hoard pens and pencils and beermats and things in boxes.
But now we must have clothes that keep us dry
And pay our rent and not swear in the street
And set a good example for the children.
We must have friends to dinner and read the papers.
But maybe I ought to practice a little now?
So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised
When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple.
****
As Maurice Chevalier once said, “Aging isn’t so bad when you consider the alternative.”
****
Mark Twain: “Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.”
****
I’m almost your mom’s age. You are sweet to try to cheer her up. In the end, there’s nothing any of us can do about getting older, but this does not necessarily make us feel any better about it.
May 4th, 2010 at 12:23 pm
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The last time I put some quotes on here, I got a violation.
May 5th, 2010 at 1:43 pm
Kansieo.com
Definitely get her a copy of when I am an old woman(I shall wear purple/red Ithink) and make sure she knows how much you appreciate all the things she has done for you…don’t forget the hug. I don’t know about the others, but 30, 40 and 50 were easy it seems as when you start rounding that corner toward 60 it may remind us of death.But as one of the other people put it…what is the alternative? Good luck to you and her and what a lucky mom to have a child that cares so much.
May 6th, 2010 at 2:01 am
aging
I can’t beat Ebony’s answer! I sent my mother that book years ago and it still has a prominent spot in my bookcase. It is edited by Sandra H. Martz and is full of great thoughts, poems, short stories.
Also some of the Chicken Soup books are worth looking into, ENJOY
May 8th, 2010 at 12:25 pm
aging
Women are like fine wine, they get better with age.
May 9th, 2010 at 1:17 am
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The Senility Prayer
God, grant me the senility to forget the people I never liked anyway,
the good fortune to run into the ones that I do like, and the eyesight
to tell the difference.
May 12th, 2010 at 7:28 am
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First thing, I want you to tell your Mom to have a happy birthday! That’s a direct order from someone who has made it past her 57th birthday. Take her out for a fun evening and tell her how much you love her. Get her a book of quotations by Maxine. She’s a cartoon drawing but I love her wit and tough attitude. You mom will hoot and holler with laughter, like I do.
Here’s Maxine in campaign for President and her version of “The Night Before Christmas” on You Tube
She’s got her own website and Blog at maxine.com
The link I’ve pasted below is from the Hallmark site so it’s safe to use. The Hallmark folks sell lots of cards with Maxine on them.
May 13th, 2010 at 10:52 am
Kansieo.com
Tell your mom that she started out with a dollar and she has only spent 57 cents! She has almost half left! If she doesn’t have a much better time the second half it is her own fault…this is the time to use her experience and knowledge to help her enjoy her very best years. Not to waste them away on wishing!
WHEN I’M A LITTLE OLD LADY
When I’m a little old lady
Then I’ll live with my children
and bring them great joy.
To repay all I’ve had
from each girl and boy
I shall draw on the walls
and scuff up the floor;
Run in and out
without closing the door.
I’ll hide frogs in the pantry,
socks under my bed.
Whenever they scold me,
I’ll hang my head.
I’ll run and I’ll romp,
always fritter away
The time to be spent
doing chores every day.
I’ll pester my children
when they are on the phone.
As long as they’re busy
I won’t leave them alone.
Hide candy in closets,
rocks in a drawer,
And never pick up my clothes
from the floor.
Dash off to the movies
and not wash a dish.
I’ll plead for allowance
whenever I wish.
I’ll stuff up the plumbing
and deluge the floor.
As soon as they’ve mopped it,
I’ll flood it some more.
When they correct me,
I’ll lie down and cry,
Kicking and screaming,
not a tear in my eye.
I’ll take all their pencils
and flashlights, and then
When they buy new ones,
I’ll take them again.
I’ll spill glasses of milk
to complete every meal,
Eat my banana and
just drop the peel.
Put toys on the table,
spill jam on the floor,
I’ll break lots of dishes
as though I were four.
What fun I shall have,
what joy it will be to
Live with my children….
the way they lived with me!
~author unknown~
May 15th, 2010 at 12:06 pm
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Everyone has given some beautiful ideas for your mom, I believe she already has exactly what she wants (in you) You are such a dear to care so much for your mom, but don’t be alarmed if there is a tears in her eyes, it will be tears of happiness!
May 15th, 2010 at 4:21 pm
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Maxine is my hero, google her for words of wisdom. On being a woman and aging.
May 15th, 2010 at 6:05 pm
Kansieo.com
READ ” DESERIDA”
May 17th, 2010 at 9:30 am
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“The secret to staying young is to live honestly, eat slowly, and lie about your age.” – Lucille Ball
“It takes a long time to grow young.” – Pablo Picasso
“For my birthday I got a humidifier and a de-humidifier… I put them in the same room and let them fight it out.” – Stephen Wright
“The way I see it, you should live everyday like its your birthday” – Paris Hilton
“And in the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.” – Abraham Lincoln
“It’s your birthday. You’re officially old.” – Sex and the City
May 20th, 2010 at 12:42 pm
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Adding some humor should make her day a little brighter. These two should do the trick.
WHEN I BECOME OLD
When I’m a little old lady, then I’ll live with my children and bring them great joy.
To repay all I’ve had from each girl and boy I shall draw on the walls and scuff up the floor; run in and out without closing the door.
I’ll hide frogs in the pantry, socks under my bed. And whenever they scold me, I’ll hang my head.
I’ll run and I’ll romp, always fritter away ….. the time to be spent doing chores every day.
I’ll pester my children when they are on the phone. As long as they’re busy I won’t leave them alone.
Hide candy in closets, rocks in a drawer … and never pick up what I drop on the floor.
Dash off to the movies and not wash a dish. I’ll plead for allowance whenever I wish.
I’ll stuff up the plumbing and deluge the floor. As soon as they’ve mopped it, I’ll flood it some more.
When they correct me, I’ll lie down and cry, kicking and screaming, not a tear in my eye.
I’ll take all their pencils and flashlights, and then .. when they buy new ones, I’ll take them again.
I’ll spill glasses of milk to complete every meal …. Eat my banana and just drop the peel.
Put toys on the table, spill jam on the floor. I’ll break lots of dishes as though I were four.
What fun I shall have, what joy it will be to Live with my children….just the way that they lived with me!
—————————————————————————————————–
STRANGE OLD LADY
A very weird thing has happened. A strange old lady has moved into my house. I have no idea who she is, where she came from, or how she got in. I certainly didn’t invite her. All I know is that one day she wasn’t there, and the next day she was.
She’s very clever. She manages to keep out of sight for the most part, but whenever I pass a mirror, I catch a glimpse of her there. And when I look into a mirror directly to check my appearance, suddenly she’s hogging the whole thing, completely obliterating my gorgeous face and body.
It’s very disconcerting. I’ve tried screaming at her to leave but she just screams back, grimacing horribly. She’s really rather frightening. If she’s going to hang around, the least she could do is offer to pay rent. But no luck.
Every once in a while I do find a couple of dollar bills on the kitchen counter, or some loose change on my bureau or on the floor, but that certainly isn’t enough! In fact, though I don’t like to jump to conclusions, I think she steals money from me regularly. I go to the ATM and withdraw a hundred dollars, and a few days later, it’s gone! I certainly don’t go through it that fast! So I can only conclude that the old lady pilfers it. You’d think she’d spend some of it on wrinkle cream. Lord knows, she needs it!
And the money isn’t the only thing she’s taking. Food seems to disappear at an alarming rate, especially the good stuff … ice cream, cookies, candy. I just can’t keep them in the house. She really has a sweet tooth. She should watch it too, as she’s really putting on the pounds. I think she realizes that, and to make herself feel better, I know she is tampering with my scale so I’ll think that I’m gaining weight, too.
For an old lady, she’s really quite childish. She also gets into my closets when I’m not home and alters all my clothes. They’re getting tighter every day.
Another thing I wish she’d stop messing with, is my files and the papers on my desk. I can’t find a thing any more. This is particularly hard to deal with because I’m extremely neat and organized. But somehow, she manages to jumble everything up so nothing is where it’s supposed to be.
Furthermore, when I program my VCR to tape something important, she fiddles with it after I leave the room so it records the wrong channel or shuts off completely.
She finds innumerable, imaginative ways to irritate me. She gets to my newspapers, magazines and mail before me and blurs all the print. Then she’s done something sinister with the volume controls on my TV, radio, and phone. Now all I hear are mumbles and whispers.
She’s also made my stairs steeper, my vacuum cleaner heavier, all my knobs and faucets hard to turn, and my bed higher so it’s a real challenge to climb into and out of.
Furthermore, she gets to my groceries as soon as I shelve them and applies super glue to the tops of every jar and bottle so they’re just about impossible to open. Is this any way to repay my hospitality?
I don’t even get any respite at night. More than once her snoring has awakened me. I don’t know why she can’t do something about that. It’s very unattractive.
And as if all this isn’t bad enough, she is no longer confining her malevolence to the house. She’s now found a way to sneak into my car with me and follow me wherever I go. I see her reflection in store windows as I pass, and she’