USED TO

Having a conversation with my husband recently he used the words, "used to" in reference to something in his past - something that he could do or had in his past. I chuckled.  It seems as we age everything becomes "used to".  There seems to be a sort of "good old days" in a lot of areas of our lives.  I used to be a fairly fast runner, beating the fastest girl in high school.  Not now.  My fastest mile time is 7:30-8:00 minutes.   I used to be able to eat garlic by the tons.  Now I am in digestive peril if I smell it!  I used to be able to pull project all nighters.  Now if I do, my life is totally messed up for 3 or 4 days.  I used to have thicker hair and more of it.  Now it is fair to say my scalp gets sunburned easily.  I used to be highly flexible - still able to do the splits until my mid 30's.  Now my muscles are shorter and tighter and there is a several inch gap between my crotch and the floor when I attempt the splits.   I used to have collagen and estrogen in abundance.  Now I use a combination of spackling and wrinkle cream to fill in the ever widening craters.  My breasts used to be up a bit further on my chest.  Now gravity is way stronger than youth.  It used to be my head and body could keep up with each other.  Now my body loses on the home stretch many times.  I used to only have trouble seeing at a distance.  Now the words up close are not so clear either.  I used to see women my age and see the occasional chin hair sticking out.  Now I am that woman and run for the tweezers.  (BTW, my dear friend Big D has taken to having tweezers in her desk, purse and car for just such the occasion - brilliant!!)  I used to like winter.  Now I wonder how I will face it this year.  I used to take risks and not think about physical consequences.  Now when I climb a ladder I think what a fall would do.  It used to be I had lots of time before me.  Now I have more behind me than in front of me.  I used to say that I would fight age tooth and nail.  Now I wonder, is that even possible?