Kassiquan

Aging, Gracefully

Today
is my birthday. I was originally due the end of September but, as my mother
tells me, I was born pre-mature, 8 months. My mother should know, first time
and “Bing,” cake was in the oven! Of course, my mother says she was not even
expecting me, nor did she expect she would ever be pregnant...her first time.
Mom’s “first time,” she says, she and my dad did not have intercourse/
penetration so my mother and my father (who pressured my mom) assumed
everything would be okay. No one would suspect they were in the back of the
barn “genitalia kissing.” One of the programs I manage, a pregnancy prevention
program provides sexual health education to middle and high school students. I
shared my story with a group of high school students and many of them laughed,
“Your mom and dad didn’t have sex but she got pregnant?” They did not believe my
story. Ahh, sex education is not efficiently taught in schools today. In fact,
many parents are not well equipped to talk to their teens about sex. The easy
way out for most parents is advising their teens to use protection; condoms or
birth control. “I don’t want no babies in my house,” the parents would say.
Telling my story was foreign to those students until I explained how my mother,
who believed she was not pregnant found out she was three months later. My
grandmother, her mother decided to take her to the doctor because she was
always sick in the mornings. At the doctor’s office my mother had to “spill the
beans” when the doctor told my grandmother that my mother was pregnant but saw no signs
of penetration. Hmm, reminds me of a passage that says, what you do in secret
will be made known in the light. After the students were given the explanation
as to why my mother got pregnant, they were more attentive to the educational
sessions that followed.

Yes,
today I celebrate a birthday. Emotionally, mentally and spiritual I feel I’m
still 16. I do not act differently than when I did in high school. But when I
look at my reflection in the bathroom mirror, “What? That cannot be me!” Yes,
my mirror does not lie; it reveals the truth and then my physical body “hi
fives” the mirror; “You tell him, bro!” I do feel the aches in my joints and
pains in places I’ve never had before. My Optometrist revealed to me that I’ve
developed a cataract in my right eye. “Nothing to worry about now,” he says.
“We’ll follow up in a year;” I go back mid-September.

In
today’s society, there are many who worry about aging and looking old. Plastic
surgery, Botox, Facelifts and Liposuction are the trends of the rich and
famous; for those wanting to hold on to their youthful appearance. Some have
had bad results, and some think they look really great (cough, cough).

There
are a few things I do that help me in the aging process; I take care of what I
have. I see the optometrist once a year, I have a complete physical once a
year, I see a cardiologist twice a year and I see my dentist twice a year; like
clock work for my health and I am doing pretty good. I have gained a little
weight; okay quite a bit of weight and advised to lose but I am healthy! I also
take care of my muscles and my face; I get massages at least once a
month and a facial. In between, I do my own face, no body soaps touch my face. But
there is one thing I do that many probably would not in aging gracefully; my
faith in Christ, my walk, journey and life are centered around him and his care
for me. I trust him and there is no better way to age gracefully!

I
like who I am. And, I love how God takes and molds my life. God is the Potter
and I am the clay (Isaiah 18:1-6). I am not too worried about my aging process,
God is “working it all for my good” (Romans 8:28). When I looked into the
mirror this morning, I did see me, and older me and yes, I said to the mirror,
“Is this really me? It just can’t be. I’m 61? No way! I do look good for my age.
I am aging gracefully! It’s been said that wine taste better with age. Oh,
yeah! I’ve got the “Wine of the Spirit” in me; God’s Holy Spirit. I have aged
gracefully!