Newsletter
Ageing Gracelessly
April-born embraces elderhood with a bang — not a whimper
I turn sixty in just over a week’s time. My dream was to celebrate on the Caribbean island of my mother’s birth, along with my eldest daughter who turns thirty-five on the same day. Alas, COVID put paid to that fantasy, so instead, we will having a picnic in our favourite park.
Hey, it’s gonna be just as special as being on a beach in St Lucia. (It’s not where you are, it’s who you’re with.)
Anyways, it’s good I’m not planning a long haul trip because lately, I’ve been experiencing little breakdowns in the working of my body. First I began exhibiting breathlessness when walking upstairs, then I got double vision in one eye and a droopy eyelid on the other.
Then my left eye closed and refused to open. Investigations show I may have TED (thyroid eye disease.) Who would have thought a tiny butterfly-shaped organ in one’s throat could cause so much damage?
Still, I count my blessings because there are folks two decades younger than I who can hardly get off their sofas, or so Reuben Salsa would have us believe.
Whenever I feel a little down about my ageing body, I go online and look at the latest pictures of my fellow editor Jonica Bradley’s adorable kid JujuB. Despite losing a foot and a bit off both ears to frostbite, she is one happy, frisky goat.
We are so delighted to announce that TBI hit 4000 followers last month! It has been a long, hard slog and to be honest, throwing in the towel was a temptation at times. Happy and grateful for the resilience that kept us going. Thank you, wonderful follower beings: without U there is no US.
Later this month, we will be launching a new competition! Fed up with this platform refusing to pay most of its writers more than a few shekels, we will be raising moola on our Ko-fi and RedBubble accounts to enrich one lucky writer. Yes, you could win $10 in our inaugural writers’ competition! Time to get scribbling…
But don’t worry if comps aren’t your thing, for there are more ways than one to earn a few pesos on Medium, as explained in Margaret’s Reflections
That’s all for now. The next time you hear from me I’d have started my seventh decade on our glorious planet: I’m planning to get a lot of use from my newly minted 60+ London travel card. (Giving new meaning to the term, the world is my oyster…)
Whether you celebrate or not, wishing you Happy Easter hols.
Toodles,
“In the land of the blind, the one-eyed woman is queen.”
