I'm stinkin' old ...
In the midst of lunch today with Kristie and Geoff, I reminded Kristie that we're approaching the anniversary of our near-death experience in her mom's car, when she set the cruise control at 6:30 a.m. on a freezing March morning while we were hurtling at 75 miles an hour down Interstate 90, headed to Minnesota for spring break, Riverdance and my Aunt Dottie's house.
Then the sheet of black ice, the car spinning out on the interstate (still 75 miles an hour), the ditch approaching on the left ... and then, "somehow," winding up on the other (flat) side of the road in soft, fresh snow, damaging nothing more than a reflector pole, a blinker bulb and a tire. Considering the alternatives, those were really good damages to be dealing with. Well, those and the fact that the Schwann's delivery guy driving behind us pretty much soiled himself watching the whole thing, positive that he was about to watch us die.
Do you know what it's like to be sliding backwards -- that fast -- on the interstate? I don't recommend it, unless you're looking for a fairly instantaneous revival; a very quick Come to Jesus Meeting.
That was ten years ago.
The realization hit me somewhere between a chunk of lettuce and a bite of chicken, and I felt so totally decrepit and deserving of menthol-smelling things in that moment.
Ten years ago. I was a freshman in college ten years ago. I should have priced Hoverounds and false teeth after lunch, but I ordered a double cappucino instead. I'm stubborn that way. I'll be in denial 'til I'm 90, and then I'll die, so it won't matter anyway.
6 comments:
Well, older folks do take on a certain smill...moooo ha ha ha :)~
That should say SMELL! Where is an editor when you need one...
I'm right here! sheesh ... :0)
so if you're decrepit--what does that make me??
It makes you absolutely, perfectly beautiful, my dear (elder) friend.
:0)
I didn't say I LOOKED aged and decrepit ... just that I felt that way, mid-Santa Fe chicken salad ... like I should start clipping cat food coupons and sending them to people (this is a topic for a long-overdue phone call) ...
Side story (this aided the decrepit feeling):
My brother called sometime last week and told me about some woman he'd met ... said she was "old."
"She's even older than YOU, Sarah," he said ...
Wow. How did I get to the point when "older than me" was the standard for OLD?
yeah. but little brothers are no gadge.. even older brothers. My brother once said I couldn't date anyone older than him! He's 14 months older than me! Certainly limits the options..
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