The 15 Best Things About Growing Old Together
"I wanna make you smile whenever you're sad. Carry you around when your arthritis is bad. All I wanna do is grow old with you!
1. Watching an amazing transformation happen before your eyes.
From young and awkward to old and wise—every wrinkle and lived experience is something you get to share with the most important person in your life. I can't wait to say to my husband, "remember when we were young and hot and so so dumb? That was the best and the worst. Now pass me my teeth, it's time for breakfast!"
2. Being a grandparent.
If you do have kids, you know that being a parent can be a LOT of thankless work—not so for grandparents. G-ma and g-pa get to take the kids on fun adventures, spoil them rotten with sweets, and then return them to their parents at bedtime and go to the movies. Plus, getting nicknamed "Gam Gam" and "Papa Bear" has to be the greatest thing ever.
3. You're both done giving any and all fucks.
You gave all of your fucks in the first half of your life and now neither of you have them left to give. If you want to go topless on the beach but never had the nerve, now is your chance. Nobody messes with a topless 70-year-old, they just step back and let her do the damn thing.
4. Not having to deal with social media anymore.
Imagine this: Never having to like a status again because you just can't be bothered with the latest in technology. That's for the kids/birds! That said, Facebook will probably be implanted in our brains by the time we're older so this might be a moot point.
5. You know everything there is to know about the other person.
That doesn't mean fun surprises have to be a thing of the past, but there's something deeply comforting about knowing someone inside and out and that's something that only time can bring.
6. Encouraging each other to fulfill your passions.
Sometimes your real dreams are put on hold to have a career or a family but when you're retired, you can return to the things you love the most—and you'll both be happier for it.
7. Giving relationship advice to the young whippersnappers.
When you're 25 and in a relationship and you try to give single friends advice, they're all "shut the hell up; you just got lucky." But when you're 60 and in a relationship, you're both suddenly sages who know the secret of the ages. Haha jokes on them! Nobody knows anything!
8. Testing each other's hearing and eye sight.
And then when you determine you both can't hear or see for shit, you can hug it out.
9. Traveling everywhere together.
When you're both retired and/or empty nesters, you can see the world how it's meant to be seen—not just a measly two weeks at a time. Whether it's trekking across the Alps or caravanning across the United States, so many adventures await.
10. Fights are more, like, whatever.
The older you get, the less likely you are to sweat the small stuff. It just doesn't matter! It doesn't mean you've lost that fiery passion, it just means you're both mature enough to live and let live and who cares if the dishes sit in the sink another day, you have more important living to do.
11. You both say what you want and need more.
It's not cute to be coy about what you want when you're 50. You're more direct and you're happier for it. The days are passing by and there's no reason to not be perfectly honest about what you want in all aspects of your life from the bedroom to the boardroom. (JK about the boardroom; you're never stepping in another office so long as you both shall live!)
12. Growing his and her beards.
It's gonna happen so throw away the razors and embrace the wiry hair growing out of your various matching moles and skin tags.
13. Sitting side by side, watching Wheel of Fortune (long since run by robot Pat Sajak and robot Vanna White), yelling at the TV screen, and drinking hot toddies
I basically live for the fact that this will one day—knock on wood—be my life.
14. Never feeling like you're growing old.
Because you get to spend every day with the most special person in the world, you're just enjoying your life to its fullest. Nobody cares how many days have passed with you're with the one you love.
15. You know you made the right choice.
Growing old together means that you weren't such a dummy when you were younger, after all. Good job, kiddo.
Monday, June 1, 2015
