{"id":3335,"date":"2019-01-28T05:29:01","date_gmt":"2019-01-28T13:29:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theagingofaquarius.com\/ag_blog\/?p=3335"},"modified":"2019-01-28T08:12:17","modified_gmt":"2019-01-28T16:12:17","slug":"aging-gracefully-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theagingofaquarius.com\/ag_blog\/aging-gracefully-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Aging Gracefully?"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Anita Garner<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>My teenaged Mother and her forever-boyfriend\u00a0 <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I learned nothing from my upbringing about aging gracefully. Mother’s\u00a0 only advice about the passing years was to encourage the use of more moisturizer so boys will like you. She considered all men potential boyfriends. In her teens she married a man who, through some combination of mercy and grace, turned into a grownup husband who behaved like her sweetheart all the days of their lives. Daddy raised his wife along with us kids while she clung tenaciously to the role of teenager.<\/p>\n

There was no talk, not one speck of advice about fulfillment, about health, about work, about relationships, about how all of that changes through the years.<\/p>\n

As a Southern preacher, Daddy didn\u2019t consider “old”\u00a0<\/em> a condition that needed fixing or discussing.\u00a0 He believed in keeping one\u2019s old people at home\u00a0alongside the halt and the lame and the merely odd. Many houses we visited had a bedroom occupied by someone who fit at least one of those categories.<\/p>\n

Our California Gramma, the one we spent the most time with, transplanted herself from Arkansas and smoked and drank and danced and cussed and played the horses at Hollywood Park and Santa Anita \u2019til the end. There was no talk of age at her house either.\u00a0 Paw Paw, the Louisiana Jones grandparent who lived into his 90\u2019s, didn\u2019t pass along that gene to his son, because Daddy left us way too soon.<\/p>\n

I liked\u00a0older people even before I became one. Younger friends say hush, you\u2019re not old.\u00a0\u00a0Well I\u2019m certainly older than I was<\/em>,\u00a0and I\u2019m not that upset about it anymore.\u00a0 Every day I think to myself – better get moving.\u00a0 Parts of me don\u2019t move quite as well as they used to.\u00a0 Every day this comes as a surprise.\u00a0 Knees, I’m talking to you.\u00a0 At first I\u2019m ticked off but by the end of the day, I ask myself, what did you expect? Things aren\u2019t brand new anymore.<\/p>\n

I asked Mother once on a significant birthday if she felt any different. She said what we\u2019ve all heard a million times – she still felt 18 inside.<\/em>\u00a0 Now I know what she meant.\u00a0 She was also right about the moisturizer. Much more of it is required.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Anita Garner My teenaged Mother and her forever-boyfriend\u00a0 I learned nothing from my upbringing about aging gracefully. Mother’s\u00a0 only advice about the passing years was to encourage the use of more moisturizer so boys will like you. She considered all men potential boyfriends. In her teens she married a man who, through some combination … Continue reading “Aging Gracefully?”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[351,1471,1472],"class_list":["post-3335","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-aging-gracefully","tag-southerners","tag-teenaged-marriage"],"yoast_head":"\nAging Gracefully? – Anita Garner | The Aging of Aquarius<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I learned nothing about aging gracefully from my Southern upbringing.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theagingofaquarius.com\/ag_blog\/aging-gracefully-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Aging Gracefully? – Anita Garner | The Aging of Aquarius\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I learned nothing about aging gracefully from my Southern upbringing.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/theagingofaquarius.com\/ag_blog\/aging-gracefully-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Anita Garner | The Aging of Aquarius\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-01-28T13:29:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-01-28T16:12:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/theagingofaquarius.com\/ag_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/The-Joneses-Mother-and-her-boyfriend.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Anita Garner\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Anita Garner\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theagingofaquarius.com\\\/ag_blog\\\/aging-gracefully-2\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theagingofaquarius.com\\\/ag_blog\\\/aging-gracefully-2\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Anita Garner\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theagingofaquarius.com\\\/ag_blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22aab34139ab8dc23d3beb537d548b34\"},\"headline\":\"Aging Gracefully?\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-01-28T13:29:01+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-01-28T16:12:17+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theagingofaquarius.com\\\/ag_blog\\\/aging-gracefully-2\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":392,\"commentCount\":6,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theagingofaquarius.com\\\/ag_blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22aab34139ab8dc23d3beb537d548b34\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theagingofaquarius.com\\\/ag_blog\\\/aging-gracefully-2\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/theagingofaquarius.com\\\/ag_blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/01\\\/The-Joneses-Mother-and-her-boyfriend.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Aging Gracefully\",\"Southerners\",\"teenaged marriage\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/theagingofaquarius.com\\\/ag_blog\\\/aging-gracefully-2\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theagingofaquarius.com\\\/ag_blog\\\/aging-gracefully-2\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theagingofaquarius.com\\\/ag_blog\\\/aging-gracefully-2\\\/\",\"name\":\"Aging Gracefully? – Anita Garner | The Aging of Aquarius\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theagingofaquarius.com\\\/ag_blog\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theagingofaquarius.com\\\/ag_blog\\\/aging-gracefully-2\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theagingofaquarius.com\\\/ag_blog\\\/aging-gracefully-2\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/theagingofaquarius.com\\\/ag_blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/01\\\/The-Joneses-Mother-and-her-boyfriend.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-01-28T13:29:01+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-01-28T16:12:17+00:00\",\"description\":\"I learned nothing about aging gracefully from my Southern upbringing.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theagingofaquarius.com\\\/ag_blog\\\/aging-gracefully-2\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/theagingofaquarius.com\\\/ag_blog\\\/aging-gracefully-2\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theagingofaquarius.com\\\/ag_blog\\\/aging-gracefully-2\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/theagingofaquarius.com\\\/ag_blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/01\\\/The-Joneses-Mother-and-her-boyfriend.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/theagingofaquarius.com\\\/ag_blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/01\\\/The-Joneses-Mother-and-her-boyfriend.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theagingofaquarius.com\\\/ag_blog\\\/aging-gracefully-2\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theagingofaquarius.com\\\/ag_blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Aging Gracefully?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theagingofaquarius.com\\\/ag_blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theagingofaquarius.com\\\/ag_blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"Anita Garner | The Aging of Aquarius\",\"description\":\"Anita Garner's journey from rock and roll disc jockey to grandmother.. what's next?\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theagingofaquarius.com\\\/ag_blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22aab34139ab8dc23d3beb537d548b34\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theagingofaquarius.com\\\/ag_blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":[\"Person\",\"Organization\"],\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theagingofaquarius.com\\\/ag_blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22aab34139ab8dc23d3beb537d548b34\",\"name\":\"Anita Garner\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9313aa2104a2ff9ad13f07ce514730e89a8e20fb7a82a25667edabcfb062713b?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9313aa2104a2ff9ad13f07ce514730e89a8e20fb7a82a25667edabcfb062713b?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9313aa2104a2ff9ad13f07ce514730e89a8e20fb7a82a25667edabcfb062713b?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Anita Garner\"},\"logo\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9313aa2104a2ff9ad13f07ce514730e89a8e20fb7a82a25667edabcfb062713b?s=96&d=blank&r=g\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Aging Gracefully? – Anita Garner | The Aging of Aquarius","description":"I learned nothing about aging gracefully from my Southern upbringing.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/theagingofaquarius.com\/ag_blog\/aging-gracefully-2\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Aging Gracefully? – Anita Garner | The Aging of Aquarius","og_description":"I learned nothing about aging gracefully from my Southern upbringing.","og_url":"https:\/\/theagingofaquarius.com\/ag_blog\/aging-gracefully-2\/","og_site_name":"Anita Garner | The Aging of Aquarius","article_published_time":"2019-01-28T13:29:01+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-01-28T16:12:17+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/theagingofaquarius.com\/ag_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/The-Joneses-Mother-and-her-boyfriend.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Anita Garner","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Anita Garner","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/theagingofaquarius.com\/ag_blog\/aging-gracefully-2\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/theagingofaquarius.com\/ag_blog\/aging-gracefully-2\/"},"author":{"name":"Anita Garner","@id":"https:\/\/theagingofaquarius.com\/ag_blog\/#\/schema\/person\/22aab34139ab8dc23d3beb537d548b34"},"headline":"Aging Gracefully?","datePublished":"2019-01-28T13:29:01+00:00","dateModified":"2019-01-28T16:12:17+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/theagingofaquarius.com\/ag_blog\/aging-gracefully-2\/"},"wordCount":392,"commentCount":6,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/theagingofaquarius.com\/ag_blog\/#\/schema\/person\/22aab34139ab8dc23d3beb537d548b34"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/theagingofaquarius.com\/ag_blog\/aging-gracefully-2\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/theagingofaquarius.com\/ag_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/The-Joneses-Mother-and-her-boyfriend.jpg","keywords":["Aging Gracefully","Southerners","teenaged marriage"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/theagingofaquarius.com\/ag_blog\/aging-gracefully-2\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/theagingofaquarius.com\/ag_blog\/aging-gracefully-2\/","url":"https:\/\/theagingofaquarius.com\/ag_blog\/aging-gracefully-2\/","name":"Aging Gracefully? – Anita Garner | The Aging of Aquarius","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/theagingofaquarius.com\/ag_blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/theagingofaquarius.com\/ag_blog\/aging-gracefully-2\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/theagingofaquarius.com\/ag_blog\/aging-gracefully-2\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/theagingofaquarius.com\/ag_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/The-Joneses-Mother-and-her-boyfriend.jpg","datePublished":"2019-01-28T13:29:01+00:00","dateModified":"2019-01-28T16:12:17+00:00","description":"I learned nothing about aging gracefully from my Southern upbringing.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/theagingofaquarius.com\/ag_blog\/aging-gracefully-2\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/theagingofaquarius.com\/ag_blog\/aging-gracefully-2\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/theagingofaquarius.com\/ag_blog\/aging-gracefully-2\/#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/theagingofaquarius.com\/ag_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/The-Joneses-Mother-and-her-boyfriend.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/theagingofaquarius.com\/ag_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/The-Joneses-Mother-and-her-boyfriend.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/theagingofaquarius.com\/ag_blog\/aging-gracefully-2\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/theagingofaquarius.com\/ag_blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Aging Gracefully?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/theagingofaquarius.com\/ag_blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/theagingofaquarius.com\/ag_blog\/","name":"Anita Garner | The Aging of Aquarius","description":"Anita Garner's journey from rock and roll disc jockey to grandmother.. what's next?","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/theagingofaquarius.com\/ag_blog\/#\/schema\/person\/22aab34139ab8dc23d3beb537d548b34"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/theagingofaquarius.com\/ag_blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https:\/\/theagingofaquarius.com\/ag_blog\/#\/schema\/person\/22aab34139ab8dc23d3beb537d548b34","name":"Anita Garner","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9313aa2104a2ff9ad13f07ce514730e89a8e20fb7a82a25667edabcfb062713b?s=96&d=blank&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9313aa2104a2ff9ad13f07ce514730e89a8e20fb7a82a25667edabcfb062713b?s=96&d=blank&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9313aa2104a2ff9ad13f07ce514730e89a8e20fb7a82a25667edabcfb062713b?s=96&d=blank&r=g","caption":"Anita Garner"},"logo":{"@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9313aa2104a2ff9ad13f07ce514730e89a8e20fb7a82a25667edabcfb062713b?s=96&d=blank&r=g"}}]}},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7bq0a-RN","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theagingofaquarius.com\/ag_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3335","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theagingofaquarius.com\/ag_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theagingofaquarius.com\/ag_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theagingofaquarius.com\/ag_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theagingofaquarius.com\/ag_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3335"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/theagingofaquarius.com\/ag_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3335\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3354,"href":"https:\/\/theagingofaquarius.com\/ag_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3335\/revisions\/3354"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theagingofaquarius.com\/ag_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3335"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theagingofaquarius.com\/ag_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3335"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theagingofaquarius.com\/ag_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3335"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}