This is beautiful Gretchen - I LOVED that first stanza!!! where diminishing vision brings clarity and sight.... the contrast there! hehehe

and the rest just had me nodding my head and enjoying my 47 going on 48 years.

I've never been afraid of telling my age. I fully embrace it. I do dye my hair though... hahaha (though right now - grays are absolutely sprouting in sparkles all around!!) I don't know why my greys sparkle but they do hahaha i think it has to do with the way they bend LOL but it helps me to embrace them.

These days I'm taking better care of myself so that I can enjoy the years that come even more. I think so often, we get lazy with age - and then the result of that laziness is looking in the mirror with sadness. Not because we don't like what we see (though there is that) but because we have ALLOWED what we see instead of maintaining our youthful spirit!

I want the best of all worlds. I want all that you mentioned in the poem AND THEN to also look in the mirror and smile fully.

I knew a married couple that never stopped being young. They were in their 80s and looked like they glowed from the inside out. Their skin was older - but soft and creamy like a baby's too...

They lived a full life of service and never stopped...

We moved before we knew what happened to them in their older ages - but I imagine them still just as young as ever hehehehe

loved ths post :)