So all this talk about watching what you ask for and putting my wish out there has me thinking I really need to stop saying

I don’t want to get old

I am going to another Celebration of Life today (I so hope this recent trend takes a break for everyone involved) and it has occurred to me that I should really say

I want to grow old

(I just don’t want to act old or feel old or, if I get a secondary wish, look old, like an old withered prune with an unhappy mouth, a hardened heart and a body that hurts).

I want to grow old like all those people I admire.