THE BUTTERFLY IN YOU

There is an old proverb “Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, it became a butterfly.” We can all be like the butterfly. Just because we are now called seniors or senior citizens and now days, people are being categorized senior when they reach sixty or even lower. I had a doctor who when he reached fifty-five, got notified by AARP that he was now a senior and eligible to join their organization. He was very upset and told me about it and I laughed. I said “it is what you feel about yourself that is your age.” When I was a little kid, a person over forty was to me ‘old.’ I heard from Mom that when my brother was about five years old and I had not been born yet, they lived in an apartment complex. There was a janitor there who was very friendly with the tenants and the children. My brother had the bad or cute habit (whichever way you view it) of asking everyone how old they were. He said that to the janitor and when he said “I am sixty-two”, my brother looked him straight in the eyes and said “you should have been dead long ago.” My Mom was horrified and told him never to say that again to anyone. He really did not mean the man any harm or disrespect; it was just what he thought and to a five year old, sixty-two was quite old in those days. Now people sixty and over and seventy and over and eighty and over accomplish anything they want and do things that were never thought possible in those years of my brother’s time, they would be able to attain. People golf, play tennis, ballroom dance, travel, drive, take care of their homes and live each day to the fullest. When we first started to dance in 1977 and I went to compete around then, the categories were listed in the competitions as “over thirty, over fifty “and that was it. As more and more seniors began to compete in competitions, the categories changed to “children, youth, over thirty, over fifty, over seventy and now some are over eighty categories.” It is a delight to see seniors and super seniors as I call the over seventy ones compete, dress in gorgeous costumes and move their bodies like younger folks do. They are competent, secure, and knowledgeable and most of all interested in achieving goals in ballroom dancing. They strut out on the dance floor like young women and men. They take lessons, practice and excel in their feat of moving their feet, arms, shoulders and most of all dance with a happy heart and an anticipating of winning attitude. Even, if they do not place in the top three; being there to even try to compete against others in their same age category; it is a sight for our eyes to watch them try. When I danced in 2001 at the studio dance, the owner Cindy Sumida of The Promenade in Woodlawn gave each dancer, six white carnations for their work. I pressed mine and have them still in a bowl to always remind me that on that day in 2001, at age sixty-seven, I was able to perform with my teacher John Dawson and do well and received lots of acclaim from the audience and John. Mostly for myself, that was the best thing I could have done for my esteem and ego. I knew I could do it at that age and can still try and do it once again, maybe, next year. Of course, I would be in the category of over 80 and ; but who cares? I care because that will mean I am still active and accomplishing. All of us seniors have to continue on doing something to keep our minds active and alive and therefore. we will be like the caterpillar and become a beautiful butterfly. Whatever we do or wherever we do it or when we do it, we are boosting our image of our self and we show the young people who surround us, they have this to look forward to when they grow older. We may have aches, pains, and slowness or be hesitant about initiating something new in our life; but I say try it and you will like it. There were two car rental companies here many years ago. One was Hertz who always called themselves #One and the second called themselves # Two. In the ad, Avis, the # Two always stated they may be number two in rentals, but they were number one in accommodation etc. So always think of yourself as the butterfly that is now number one and you will become number one for sure in actions, deeds and your thoughts. You will fly away into happiness, good health and most of all you will be a hit. Hit meaning successful, triumphant and a winner. The butterfly is all that and so are you. elita sohmer clayman Fairfax Station Patch