Old. Friends.

I have practically nothing in common with one of my friends. Oh, we work together, within a few feet of each other if you're able to levitate between the floors of our building (she's another flight up), but where she's liberal I'm conservative; where she's a minimal-children person I'm a multiple-children person; where she's a mother o fa daughter, I'm a mother of many sons; etc.

What we have in common is that we really enjoy each other's company. Maybe it's because we're both apostrophe snobs, but I'm inclined to believe we enjoy each other partly because we were born in the same year. And like every person I know who was born in the same year we were, we are SHOCKED very time we are reminded that we are no longer 25. Or 35. Or...

The other evening this friend and I were ate the same meeting and happened to go out the front door at the same time.

"Hey, be careful--the front porch light isn't on, and you don't want to trip," I warned her.

"Yeah, do you see the step there?" she cautioned me.

We were quiet for just a moment as we contemplated how much we sounded like old, old women. Then we burst out laughing, because, well, apparently we ARE old, old women.

"Okay, when you're walking down the sidewalk, do you ever find yourself veering off into the lawn if you're not concentrating on going straight?"

"Yes! And when you get up from sitting down for a while does it feel like you have to remind all your joints of their jobs? 'Knees, bend now...'"

The road to old age is not for the faint of heart. Fortunately, it's populated by fellow travelers who are good company and know how to use apostrophes.