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NO ROCKING CHAIRS YET

Trafford Publishing

Contents

PROLOGUE.....................................................................xiii1. AGING WITH ATTITUDE.......................................................12. HUSBAND MORPHS INTO BACKSEAT DRIVER.......................................73. ANNOYING CHANGES..........................................................114. BEACH WALKS...............................................................175. AGING PARENTS.............................................................236. SINGLE AND FREE...........................................................277. GRANDCHILDREN.............................................................298. PARENTING ADULT CHILDREN..................................................359. MOTHERS-IN-LAW............................................................39SUMMER.......................................................................10. CASSIE'S LINE DANCE SURPRISE11. AIRPLANE FLIGHTS TEST PATIENCE AND ENDURANCE.............................4912. ENDLESS ASPIRATIONS......................................................5313. TO-DO LISTS..............................................................5914. HIGH-MAINTENANCE LADIES..................................................6315. DANCING AT CASSIE'S......................................................6716. MIRROR, MIRROR ON THE WALL...............................................6917. WHAT'S YOUR WORST HAIRDRESSER STORY?.....................................7518. DECORATIVE SURGERY.......................................................7919. STEPFORD WIVES...........................................................8320. A CHANCE ENCOUNTER.......................................................8721. WEIGHTY CHALLENGES.......................................................9122. COOKING DINNER AND EACH GUEST IS ON A DIFFERENT DIET.....................9523. INDIGESTION QUEENS.......................................................9924. WAITER, BRING BACK MY PLATE!.............................................10525. FIRST LOVE...............................................................10926. STUFF....................................................................11327. LIVING WITH A PAPER PACKRAT..............................................11728. LETTER FROM TRENT........................................................12329. FASHION CHALLENGES.......................................................12730. NICHOLAS ALMOST PROPOSES.................................................13331. BEACH LESSONS............................................................13732. PET PEEVES...............................................................13933. THE "YOU GUYS" EXPRESSION................................................14534. NOSTALGIA................................................................14935. CATCHING FIREFLIES.......................................................15536. CHRISTMAS WISHES.........................................................16137. HE KNOWS!................................................................16538. MOVING...................................................................16939. PEGGY'S PINK LADIES......................................................17340. TAKE IT ALL IN...........................................................17541. SPEAK, WRITE, THINK......................................................17942. REALIZATION..............................................................18543. TRENT'S DREAM............................................................18944. GREEN-EYED MONSTERS......................................................19145. LEGACIES.................................................................19746. HOUSEWORK ... UH, OH!....................................................20147. A FULL PROPOSAL..........................................................20548. HAPPY MARRIAGES..........................................................20749. LOVE AFTER FIFTY.........................................................21350. THE BEST IS YET TO COME..................................................21551. UPLIFTING SONGS..........................................................219AUTHOR'S NOTES...............................................................221

Chapter One

Grant unto me the seeing eye, that I may see the beauty in common things ... and that I may know that each age from first to last is good in itself and may be lived ... happily. —Edmund Sanford

After Barb and Cassie greeted Peggy enthusiastically, and the three friends shared a couple of minutes of small talk, Barb launched directly into the topic on her mind.

"I see another great big birthday looming portentously on the horizon," she wailed.

"Any birthday you reach is a great one," Cassie offered, sagely.

"Don't even look at the horizon," Peggy advised, as they started to walk briskly in a southward direction from their starting point in front of the Tamarack parking lot on Carlsbad State Beach.

"I get into a room with women who qualify for senior rates, I look around, and I say to myself, I don't belong here. Some terrible mistake has been made. It's not possible that I've reached this stage in my life. I'm too young to be this old!" Barb continued.

"So where do I fit in? In which niche would I feel comfortable? The young-old? The in-betweeners?

"I feel as if I'm caught in a time warp, living somewhere after midlife and before rocking chairs."

"After fifty, we're all in an unclassified group. We're the new unlabeled," Cassie laughed. "Look, Barb, what you need is a little attitude adjustment. Every age has its own unique advantages, but you've got to do a search for them. Every moment is interesting in a way that will never come again—whatever age you happen to be is the best age."

"Easy for you to say," smirked Barb. "You're the youngest of us."

"Oh, come on, Barb," Cassie responded, "you know age is inconsequential, doesn't matter, after fifty. When we were very young, just a year or two made such a big difference. No longer. After a certain point of maturity, everyone has enough cumulative experience to be able to commiserate with one another."

Peggy breathed in the salty sea air and watched as a rolling wave suddenly surged. This early in the morning, prebreakfast, the air was still cool and crisp, and the ocean's deep navy blue depth lines sharply contrasted with cerulean tones. A seagull veered sharply over the swell of the surf to snatch a morsel floating with the breeze.

A pause in their discussion offered the opportune moment for Peggy to insert some hard facts. "About three years ago, a Scripps Health Study asked the question, 'Could genome research make one hundred twenty the new forty?' Our number of years on this planet will eventually become irrelevant.

"Already, the number of persons living to ninety or more has almost tripled since 1980 and will increase to over 7.6 million in the next forty years.

"And keep in mind that our real age is not necessarily the same as our calendar age. It's as if there's a default setting for each age; well, I say, let's delete it.

"This time in our lives is referred to in so many ways—the third age, pre-old age, the encore generation, post-middle age, on and on. But guess what? Most women in Samoa totally ignore birthdays, and Hindu women in...