When Did I Become That Woman?

When did I become the woman who will be at your bedside when you need her?  When did I become old enough to know what to do in a crisis?  When did I become the one who’ll rub your back aching with the cold that settled right there?  When did I become the Gran throwing the 5-year old into the tub?  When did I become the grown-up in the room?

I really would like to know.  Because inside, I still feel like the baby, the child, the teenager, who wants herself to be taken care of and totally incompetent to take care of others.

So when did it happen that I became the one?

I guess I wasn’t looking when it crept up on me.

Friend Sue always reminds us from her 92-year-old vantage that “Old age is not for sissies.”  I think she meant more than the aches and pains.  And she’s so right.

Turns out I’m not a sissie.

I guess that’s a good thing.

Yes.  It is a good thing.  And yes, I am that woman.