Mom, my finger … my finger … it hurts,” Evan screamed. “Quick, get it out, get it out!”
I took his hand and gently turned it to see what had happened. It looked like a sliver had got lodged in there, but I couldn't see it clearly, so I pulled his hand closer and squinted. That made it worse. I pulled and pushed his hand closer, farther, closer, farther. Nothing worked. It was too small to see and I couldn’t get that sliver out. I had to call in reinforcements.
“Sarah, come help me please. I can’t see this.” After the offensive invader was removed by his big sister, Evan went on his way with a sniff. I started going around the room picking things up and bringing them closer to my face. Oh my gosh, everything blurred when it got too close.
When did that happen? I went to the eye doctor and told him about my dilemma. Do you know what he had the gall to say to me? “Well, that happens when you get older.” What?
“Mom, can’t you listen for Sean while David and I go out?” my daughter asked.
“Sure, no problem, I’ll be up for a while,” I assured her. A little later, Ed came out of the shower. “Kathie, can’t you hear Sean crying?”
“No,” I answered. “He’s not crying. What are you talking about?”
He looked at me oddly and said, “You can’t hear that?”
“No.” I got up and went out of the bedroom and as I got closer to the stairs, I could hear crying — loud crying. By the time I raced down to the room that my grandson was sleeping in, he was in such a state of agitation, it took me ages to calm him down.
After that episode, I began to put the clues together. I went to the doctor and she sent me for a hearing test. She said, “Well, you’re getting to that age.”
If one more person says that to me, I think I’ll scream. When did I get to “that age”? I can’t help myself from wondering if somewhere along the way, I entered a time machine and ended up in the wrong decade. One day, I went to bed after putting on my facial cream and woke up the next day wrinkled. I need to get my money back on that stuff.
I suppose I’m going to have to get used to this idea of being “that age.” Half of my life is gone, used up, over, finito.
Wait. I haven’t become a published author. I haven’t saved the world yet. I fretted. Turning to God’s word, I found many old friends. Noah, he lived till he was 500 years old. Can you imagine the wrinkles he had? And they didn’t have bifocals back then. And then Sarah, having a baby in her 90s. I had my last one at 41 and that was hard enough.
OK, God can still use me — I still have lots of time left to leave my big mark on the world. Psalm 92 says: “The righteous will grow old and bear fruit,” and the book of Isaiah says: “Even to your old age and grey hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.”
I can’t tell you what a relief it is to know God walks with us through the changes life brings, giving us courage and strength. I can sure use it.
Major Kathy Chiu is a writer, preacher and Salvation Army officer who is passionate about God’s word, family and, of course, knitting. She is the executive director at the Salvation Army Victoria Addictions and Rehabilitation Centre. Her blog is at kathiechiu.com.
