Been there, done that

Oh yeah!

I like to think I'm above such violent egotistical displays, but that's exactly how I felt when AARP started sending me stuff at the tender age of 50.

Then, the day after my 55th birthday, I happened to be in Michael's Craft Store and a huge sign suspended over the cast registers announced, "If you're over 55, ask for our senior discount". It made me puddle up.

And, I must admit that I didn't take it well when my first grandchild was born when I was 42. I did not want to be called Grandma W (she was my elderly mother-in-law in a nursing home).

Sometime after I retired at age 65, I finally began to adjust to what I perceived to be other people's distorted perception of my "stage of development". I felt like I was still vital and intellectually "with it". But then, I started doing embarrassing things, like dropping really dated expressions into my vocabulary. That is soooo not cool!

There are tons of expressions that are virtually meaningless to my grandkids, like:

Filling station or Dollar's worth of gas

Penny postcard

Jar of Mum Deodorant

Bushel basket

Duz does everything

Lug of peaches

Pitcher of nectar

Cellophane package

Till the cows come home

Fibber McGee's closet

I could go on and on showing off the stash of nostalgic stuff stuck in my brain, but it's not a good way to impress anybody younger than me. I hope it gave you a laugh.