Thank goodness for girl friends
For many Native Americans, growing old is not an option, but for those who do, it is a blessing -- old in our culture being anything over 60.
Females seem to outlast the males; we in our sixties still “blowing and going,” while many of our same-aged male counterparts have self-relegated themselves to the lazy chair and remote, those once dazzling and handsome fellows, now decidedly pudgy. (I won’t offend them by saying fat).
Then, they constantly want to know “what is for supper?” or “Can you grab me another cold one, honey?”
Men, it seems, can entertain themselves solely by old westerns, "shoot-em-up” gangster movies, documentaries about serial killers or great Alaskan fishing adventures.
When, and if, they visit with similarly aged males, the conversation is limited: “Yup, nope, you don’t say, etc.” monosyllabic, usually about fixing things or mechanics. ‘Cept none of them can fix their vexing “old ladies.”
Women, on the other hand, need girlfriends – somebody to talk or more correctly, to listen. At our age (sixty plus, some older) we don’t have time to make too many more best friends, so, must cherish the ones we have.
So? as my granddaughter wondered, what do old ladies talk about? It’s fairly predictable:
• Children: Each of us has grown children who have now, thankfully, produced grandchildren. Often, the children are a handful, insisting, as adults do, upon sometimes behaving erratically, having trouble with spouses, jobs, often needing money or babysitters. Guess who that might be? Yep, you’re right. The handy grandma. We have largely stopped giving advice to our children about marital matters as most of us didn’t do that successfully either. They know that and thus do not pay us any heed, intent upon making the same errors.
• Grandchildren: It is remarkable that each of us have “the most amazing” grandchildren in the world. “So-and-so did this”, one will say. “You think that’s something? Let me tell you about mine.” It is a harmless form of bragging which makes us feel good. Of course, when they do well, they are “taking after” Grandma.
• The other friends: This is ever a favorite topic. “Can you believe she said or did that? Maybe she’s going crazy”. Of course, when “she” shows up, we never say it to her face. And, if you are not the one there for such conversation, be sure, you will be suspected of being the crazy one, perhaps with good reason as we are at the age to say or do whatever we want to.
NATIVE SUN NEWS TODAY
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