the art of aging gracefully and a trip to the dr.'s office

A few years ago, I was sitting in the Dr.'s office, paging through magazines, while I waited my turn.There was a tall pile of magazines, on a variety of topics, on the small table there.

So,with time on my hands, I started to rifle through them.

I found one about menstruation, and smiled and tossed that aside. Not relevant! Next I found one about pregnancy and, with a warm and knowing smile, I put that to one side too.

I found another, that talked about stimulating your toddlers, while keeping them safe. I tossed that aside,with a joyful smile and 'fond' memories of exhaustion. Not for me!

Next I found one about teenage problems and solutions. Thank god our children were past that stage in their lives, and so was I. We had all got through that one. Again, I tossed that aside. A mountain already climbed.

Then came a magazine on menopause, and all that it entails. Whew again. Toss that one aside too!

Then I was confronted with the multitude of magazines about relationships, and how to improve them. They talked about your sex appeal, your clothes, your communication skills, and in this modern day of technology,they gave hints on how to keep your relationship vibrant, without actually spending any time with your partner!They acknowledged that with everyone being too busy reaching their individual goals, relationships were in a bit of a mess! Again, not relevant. Whatever I knew about relationships, came from real life, and these magazines could not help me!

I continued to push magazines aside, and to discard them with a sigh of relief, or a smile of acknowledgement and some fond memories, knowing that we had already found our way through those difficult challenges.I sighed thankfully! I felt a moment of triumph in fact! We were all still alive! And through it all, we still loved one another!

Without knowing what I was looking for, I kept searching through the magazines for something of interest to me.

I finally reached the end of the pile, having found nothing! This took me by surprise! I sat back and pondered. This had never happened to me before in a Dr.'s office.There was always something of some small interest.

What did this mean? Where was the information on the 'next developmental stage'? None?? Where were the rest of the magazines? Again I sat back in slight shock. What! No more magazines?

It dawned on me,slowly.There were no more 'developmental stages'! What?? Yes, no more developmental stages! Hold on here! What!

At this point I started to laugh. I guess they could have had magazines about old age on their magazine racks. But old age isn't something the Dr.'s can "cure". Maybe there is no money in it for the Dr.'s or the magazines! Maybe just a diminished reading audience?

I started to think of names for magazine articles on the topic of aging, using the same glib and artless approach the magazines had used for all the other developmental steps of life, that they did pretend to deal with.

"How to Arrange your Wardrobe as you Shrink", maybe.

Or, " How to Manage Calcium, as your Bones Turn Brittle."

Or "What to do With Your Enlarged Prostate", maybe!

"How to Live With Diabetes and Be The Life of the Party!

They could have had magazines about alzheimers, and memory loss, I guess.

But who would remember what advice they gave? And we might forget and take them home with us!

"How to Dress Appropriately for Impending Death", maybe?

"What Clothes to Choose for Atophied Muscles".

Or, " How to Do Up Your Brassiere When you Can No Longer Reach Behind your Back! "

"Some Helpful Hints When Your Partner Dies" .The magazine could be called, 'Being Lonely and Loving It!'

Or "How to Choose a Funeral, That Will Leave Money in Your Kid's Pockets".

You have to admit, these are not the books to attract the public to your Dr.'s office, are they! In a competitive business like medicine, you have to think of these things.

Dr.'s offices are all about hope. And these topics are about the reality of sliding down, the other side of the mountain.

And in that area, there was complete silence from the magazine rack!