by David Villa

Created on: June 07, 2008

At this stage in my life, I still have a number of years before I can truly muse about the ups and downs of growing old. I lack the first person knowledge. However, having had two sets of grandparents for a good portion of my life, I did have a window into what I like to call the freedoms of old age. Getting older does involve a host of pitfalls, many of them of the physical nature, but I like to look at it as an entryway to the land of "I don't care what you think-ville".

One of the great freedoms that come with growing old, although it's a little scary for the rest of us, is the ability to drive your car however you want. You want to drive 20 mph in a 50 mph zone, well you've earned it. Feel like changing lanes on a crowded highway without bothering with that pesky turn signal, don't worry about it. How about backing up out of a parking spot without checking the mirrors or even making an effort to pretend to turn your head to look, that's quite alrightyou're growing old. I've been in taxis in New York City and Mexico City. One time in Mexico City the taxi driver told me not to worry if we didn't stop at the red light up ahead. We were in a bad neighborhood. That was scary. But it wasn't half as scary as driving with my grandfather in his as cheap as possible, bright yellow convertible.

Another fantastic freedom of growing old is the pass you get when it comes to clothing. It is perfectly acceptable to wear very high, very thin, black dress socks with white sneakers or even better, with some form of sandal. We all put forth too much effort trying for some type of look. Will I fit in, is this out of date? When you get older, those thoughts go away. If you have some crazy looking reddish plaid pants from 1974 and by some miracle they still fit you and you want to wear them with a threadbare purple v-neck sweater, by all means, please do so. You wear what you want, when you want and you just don't care. How absolutely freeing is that?

We all love to eat. Unfortunately there are general guidelines of the times in which you are supposed to do so. These times are referred to as breakfast, lunch and dinner. The greatness of growing old is now that concept becomes open to interpretation. Dinner now becomes as soon as possible. If you feel the desire to eat a full dinner at 4 pm, since you are growing older, you can absolutely do that. Nobody questions it. We may smirk at the line of elders crowding into the "early bird" special, but I think they're onto something. They've figured out that one of life's great injustices, waiting for dinner, can be circumvented if you just don't care.

Many of us have concerns about the future, about growing old. Will we be too sick or tired to truly enjoy what the golden years have to offer? Will we completely lose our looks or will we have enough money. I don't really worry about any of those trivial, mundane thoughts. For I know when I get to a certain age, a switch will be flipped in my mentality and I just won't care what anyone else thinks anymore. I look forward to the days of growing old.

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