Age is but a number, and I was never very good at Math!...

Like with everything else in life there are different attitudes regarding age. Take my mother for example (may she rest in peace), bless her heart I believe she was born old, at least I felt that way around her. She had very old fashioned ideas, she never drove or worked, and I can still remember how upset she was when she saw my first boyfriend kissing me. I can recall feeling very self-conscious and embarassed going into my room at my parent's home with my husband on the day we got married to change clothes after the wedding, to go off on our honeymoon.

Then there’s my ex father in law, ‘Poppo’, he always talks about his high school days as a star athlete and the time he spent as a Marine; it seems those were his favorite years since he keeps on referring back to them, and the one thing he keeps on stressing to me is how fast he feels his life is going, since he is still holding on to those years.

To tell you the truth for a long time, it wasn’t that I didn’t believe him, but I just couldn’t relate to what he was saying, I kept on thinking that he should try to live and enjoy the present and stop looking back, and in many ways he is, since to this day, getting closer to his late eighties, he is still handsome, in good health, great spirits, has a good group of friends, he travels, he works-out and looks good, and maybe his re-living those years is what’s kept him feeling and looking younger.

I, on the other hand, live very much in the present, and it was only recently that I started to relate to what ‘Poppo’ has been telling me all these years regarding how fast life goes, since I’ve never really paid too much attention to my age. That was up until about a year ago when I turned 55 and acquired the label of ‘Senior Citizen’. How could this be? I thought to myself, wasn’t I just 20 yesterday? Who’s that older lady in the mirror looking back at me? I don’t feel any different; I haven’t stopped wanting, needing, feeling, caring, hurting, enjoying, and most of all dreaming!

At that point I realized that I could either become like my mom, or start thinking about the good old days like ‘Poppo’ or simply realize that “Age is but a number, and I was never very good at Math!” ~ @nit@
Hugs xoxo
Anita

Europe

And they lived "Happily Ever After"

It is through LOVE that we find happiness!

An incredible love story has come out of China recently and managed to touch the world. It is a story of a man and an older woman who ran off to live and love each other in peace for over half a century. The 70-year-old Chinese man who hand-carved over 6,000 stairs up a mountain for his 80-year-old wife has passed away in the cave which has been the couple's home for the last 50 years.

Over 50 years ago, Liu Guojiang a 19 year-old boy, fell in love with a 29 year-old widowed mother named Xu Chaoqin.. 

In a twist worthy of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, friends and relatives criticized the relationship because of the age difference and the fact that Xu already had children. At that time, it was unacceptable and immoral for a young man to love an older woman. To avoid the market gossip and the scorn of their communities, the couple decided to elope and lived in a cave in Jiangjin County in Southern ChongQing Municipality. In the beginning, life was harsh as they had nothing, no electricity or even food. They had to eat grass and roots they found in the mountain, and Liu made a kerosene lamp that they used to light up their lives. Xu felt that she had tied Liu down and repeatedly asked him, 'Are you regretful? Liu always replied, 'As long as we are industrious, life will improve.'In the second year of living in the mountain, Liu began and continued for over 50 years, to hand-carve the steps so that his wife could get down the mountain easily.

Half a century later in 2001, a group of adventurers were exploring the forest and were surprised to find the elderly couple and the over 6,000 hand-carved steps. Liu MingSheng, one of their seven children said, 'My parents loved each other so much, they have lived in seclusion for over 50 years and never been apart a single day. He hand carved more than 6,000 steps over the years for my mother's convenience, although she doesn't go down the mountain that much.'

The couple had lived in peace for over 50 years until last week. Liu, now 72 years, returned from his daily farm work and collapsed. Xu sat and prayed with her husband as he passed away in her arms. So in love with Xu, was Liu, that no one was able to release the grip he had on his wife's hand even after he had passed away. 'You promised me you'll take care of me, you'll always be with me until the day I died, now you left before me, how am I going to live without you?' Xu spent days softly repeating this sentence and touching her husband's black coffin with tears rolling down her cheeks.

In 2006, their story became one of the top 10 love stories from China , collected by the Chinese Women Weekly. The local government has decided to preserve the love ladder and the place they lived as a museum, so this love story can live forever.

The reason why Love feels so good is because that's our Nature, we came from love, it's in our DNA 

My love to everyone out there xoxo
@nit@

The World is Watching....

Today after I got home from work and finally settled in and began to write, while sitting in front of my computer reading some articles I spotted the little 'Cluster Map' that I added to my blog less than a month ago, just curious to see for fun if anyone in the "World was Watching ME," and to my surprise I noticed that for someone they don't know or care about, someone they might never meet, there were a lot of people watching from all parts of the world. Some have even taken the time to write to me, and leave me comments it's been very rewarding and a real eye opener!

At first it felt sort of strange, because when you expose your life to strangers, you make yourself vulnerable and open for judgement, but fortunately for me, like I said before in one of my blogs, "Who Cares?" I figure I harm nobody and maybe I can even help someone who is going through something difficult, maybe they can just come to my cyber-house to watch a short video, or listen to some music, or read one of my stories and smile. I know from the experience of living them, I've had many interesting stories, like we all do. Maybe some people just need someone to vent with who will listen to them, or someone who can witness a part of their story.

I like to listen to people's stories, they fascinate me because I always learn something from all of them, you can learn from the kind and the evil, the wise and the not so smart, you can even learn from crazy people. Lately I've been learning a lot from my new little puppy, not to mention my kids.

I write because I love to help people, I love to be part of the solution and not the problem and I believe we all have a lot to give and the obligation to give it.

We all have something we are good at, I am good at giving and I'm even learning how to receive ;o) now that's a biggie for me!

It feels good, have you tried it lately?

Go give, and then come back and tell me about it, I'll pat you in the back.

Hugs xoxo

@nit@