Young At Heart

What are your thoughts on aging? How will you stay young at heart as you get older?

This Daily Prompt came at a great time. I turned 40 this month and ended up having three celebrations.

The first party was dedicated to bar-hopping. We started at 8 pm and ended at 2 am, only because only Ivy (my sis) and I were left. We drank and danced at three different bars, had racy conversations, got to know some acquaintances in ways only drunk people can, twisted an ankle in heels, and generally acted like we were still in our twenties. The only difference because of our age was our transportation choice –walking and taxis, rather than walking to Ihop and staying until someone was sober enough to drive.

The next day, I slept late and was completely useless. It was wonderful.

My second party was a week later. Ivy wanted us to hit a drag show near her town. Mercy begged out and since she partied with me til 1 am the week before I didn’t object. This night was full of changes.

I decided that I had drank enough the week before, so I could be the designated driver and still have a good time. The drag show was a half-hour away, so it only made sense to have a D.D. instead of taking taxis. We ended up not going to the drag show because no one verified that the cover was the normal $3. There ended up being some fundraising event that night, which would increase the cover by another $20 a piece. So we regrouped and decided to go to karaoke. I did end up having one drink of liquid courage to gear up for singing.

This bar had a full range of talents getting up to sing. I was amazed at the courage of some absolutely horrible singers. There were two who were so bad that I was afraid they would be booed off. Luckily the crowd was a nurturing group; they cheered just as loud for the bad performances as the great performances. People would sing along and help the performers to find the beat and the tune.

I finally wrote my name and song on a little slip of paper and handed it to the K.J. I sang “Galileo” by the Indigo Girls, “By Your Side” by Sade, “She Works Hard For The Money” by Donna Summers, and signed up for “Time After Time” by Cyndi Lauper…but ran out of time.

There were some other songs that I heard sung that night or saw the listing for that I want on my list for next time:

“Gloria” Laura Branigan

“Something to Talk About” Bonnie Raitt

“Zombie” Cranberries

“I’m the Only One” Melissa Etheridge

I’m sure that the list will grow…I am hooked.

The night ended weird though. We ended up back at one of Ivy’s friends house with two more carloads of people and the bartenders for an after party. This brought me back to my clubbing days and not in a good way. More than half of the new crowd were strangers before that night, so a fight almost broke out, a dude that no one new was passed out on the couch, and soon I was the only sober person in the house. I eventually ended up on another couch reading my Kindle til Ivy was ready to leave at 4:45 am. After a trip through McDonald’s drive through, the drive back to Ivy’s house, a stop at Walmart for allergy meds, etc, I was finally in bed by 6 am.

The finale for my birthday was the following day, a family dinner. One part of the family could come due to a cold. I was struggling for breath most of the day due to my asthma and a severely high pollen count this week. We had one of my favorite dishes, Chicken Marsala and finished off with a dessert sampler with chocolate and caramel drizzle. There was a little bit of drama, but what family function is drama free?

So now back to the second question?

Now as I age, what do I do to stay young?

Try to live in the now, not judge, and forgive…and by all means have as many parties as you can!

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