This week is a good time to take a vacation and see old friends

Is it just me or are the years tumbling down around us? Tomorrow Brent and I are meeting several of our classmates from the Class of 61 (Let's see, how many years is that?)for dinner. Do you realize that in two more years we'll have been out of high school for 50 years? Ahhhh!!!. One postive point is this; we are all the same age. We'll all have winkles. Our hair will be grayed or gone. But our hearts will forever be young and that's what counts.

After our reunion, Brent and I are leaving for a vacation to the Black Hills of the Dakota's, after which we head to Omaha to visit our son, his wife, and our grandchildren.

Have you ever noticed that grandchildren don't care how many wrinkles we have, and their parents refrain from talking about them? It's true. Test it out (except maybe on the really forward ones who have no problem with asking what those things on your face).

Oh, that reminds me, in my book "Pages From the Past" Betsy wakes up one morning to find her knees beginning to wrinkle. She makes a quick call to her mother, complaining about the unsightly things. Showing no sympathy, Elmira explains it this way. "You've got too much time on your hands, Betsy. You need to get a life and today would be a good day to get one.

Then she goes on to explain that God intended wrinkles to be a part of our life. "I can't quote scripture or verse," she says, "but he basically said that where there is wisdom and learning, there are wrinkles in which to store them."

Now doesn't that make you feel better about the wrinkles? Of course it does because in the years between high school graduation and 2009, we have acquired so much knowledge, We've experienced so much of life. We've made it through the rain and entered the golden years.

While we're on the subject, let's take a minute and address the golden years. Do you sometimes think they're not all they are cracked to be? Maybe they're a little too pushy? Perhaps more trouble than they're worth? Yet, in all of this I have found one positive. They give us the excuse not to do anything we don't want to do - because we're too old. We can say what we want to say because we're so old. (Keep digging, JoAnn, and maybe you'll even convince yourself).

In closing, I leave this you with this thought. Wrinkles are only meant for those smart enough to handle them. They are like trophies to be envied by the world. Let's wear them with pride. Let's show them off as if they were diamonds. Yes!!!! (Ouch! that hurt my back).

P.S. I'll get back to you when I return from vacation and let you know how everything went - you know - with the wrinkle thing and all that.