Let's Hear It for Us (elderly people)

I don't often think about age, well actually I do, sort of. When I think of my parents and uncles and aunts, I often think they died too young, or they lived a long life. Sometimes I think about my genes. Will I get the long life gene or not, or do I want it? The women on my mother's side all died of ovarian cancer. My father died three days short of his 73rd birthday. His father died a lot younger than that. It seems that almost all my other relatives lived into their 80's. Do I really want to do that?

Like I said, my age is not something I dwell on a lot. Unless I think about how much time I may have left or when I hear of people being called old or elderly. Recently I saw a news report about a women who was the victim of a home invasion. She fought them off but did suffer some minor injuries. What surprised me was the reporter's description of her as "an elderly woman." She's my age! I could soon qualify for early retirement, but I don't think of myself as "elderly." Then last night I was watching the new "Survivor" show. One of the team's members is a bus driver who refers to herself as "old" and her teammates also call her an "old lady" who probably would not be an asset to the tribe. She is only 53, younger than I am! Jeez...Maybe youth really is wasted on the young.

Then I found this little story:
An elderly woman had just returned to her home from an evening of church services when she was startled by an intruder. She caught the man in the act of robbing her home of its valuables and yelled, "Stop! Acts 2:38!" (Repent and be baptized, in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven.)

The burglar stopped in his tracks. The woman calmly called the police and explained what she had done.

As the officer cuffed the man to take him in, he asked the burglar, "Why did you just stand there? All the old lady did was yell a scripture to you."

"Scripture?" replied the burglar. "She said she had an ax and two 38's!"

Score one for the old folks!