Even a few months before my 91-year-old father died, he told me that as he looked in the morning mirror, he couldn\u2019t believe the old man\u2019s face who stared back was his. At 82, I also find myself not always believing the mirrored-face that used to be my younger self, because both my younger and older selves are me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After a nearly 30-year career as a parish pastor, I transitioned into geriatric social work. After I \u201cretired\u201d from nursing home service, I refocused: I began my own consulting ministry centered on aging. My business mantra became, \u201cGray hair and wrinkles aren\u2019t a fashion statement. They\u2019re a values statement.\u201d It was true in 2005, and it\u2019s still true today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That truth-piece later led to another bit of aging insight. I enjoy learning the origins of words that are fun to say. \u201cGeezer\u201d is one of those words. It\u2019s much more than the stereotypical grumpy old man. It comes from \u201cguiser,\u201d a late-15th-century Cockney word that means \u201cdisguise.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When I saw that, I immediately realized that a geezer can be someone who has a hopeful, even adventurous, attitude toward life, and simply lives in the disguise of gray hair and wrinkles. I\u2019ve been spreading that message for at least 15 years. And people\u2019s faces usually break into grins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Our Mexican daughter-in-law\u2019s ancestors are from the Mexican state of Michoacan. Before Christopher Columbus came to the Americas in 1492, a refreshingly satirical dance tradition began in Patzcuaro, Michoacan. Today,it\u2019s called \u201cLa danza de los viejitos\u201d \u2013 \u201cDance of the Old Men.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The dancers are disguised in \u201cold men\u201d costumes, including masks. As the music speeds up, the dancers go from aging movements to energetic dance steps. As the dance ends, the masks come off to reveal that many of the dancers are children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ve watched YouTube videos of this dance that gleefully celebrates aging in many places. Then, I wonder how often my father understood that the younger\/older men in the mirror still lived with each other. I\u2019m reminded of the same reality for myself also.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since 2012, I\u2019ve hosted a Geezer Forum in my hometown. We gather at least monthly to explore different aspects of aging, and to learn about different community resources available for older adults in north Idaho.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Many of the participants buy into my advocacy to consider ourselves \u201cGeezers-in-Training.\u201d Regardless of what our faces may reveal about our ages, we have the choice to keep learning what is out there for us as vulnerable, older adults. We\u2019re also teach each other how to talk with our children and grandchildren about our own aging issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you are \u201cadvanced in age,\u201d or know someone who is, perhaps you might reflect on Psalm 71. Written by an elder, it reminds us \u2013 in verses 9 and 18, particularly \u2013 how the psalmist depends on his intimate relationship with God to sustain him as he lives out his life. I like to think the Psalmist was a Geezer-in-Training.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We often joke about our gray hair and wrinkles. Thankfully, the humor usually has a positive spin to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I like to think our faces even prompt what \u2013 for years \u2013 I\u2019ve called \u201cgo-away-closer\u201d humor. The kind of laughter and attitude that can push our fears away to arms-length, but also absorbs those fears into our facial wrinkles and gray hair so we\u2019re not afraid. We\u2019re usually not diminished, but nourished, by our masked, our disguised faces. And while we stand in front of that mirror, we can even laugh at what we see.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What\u2019s your mirror time like?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Rev. Paul Graves<\/strong> is a retired elder member of the Pacific Northwest Conference of The United Methodist Church.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Rev. Paul Graves reflects on the experience of aging, emphasizing that while physical appearances change over time, the essence of one\u2019s youthful self remains within. Graves, who transitioned from a long pastoral career to geriatric social work, encourages us to embrace aging as a natural and valuable part of life, recognizing the enduring spirit that resides within.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":24028,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[74,16],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-24027","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-opinioneditorial","8":"category-pacific-northwest-conference"},"yoast_head":"\n