Growing Old

I have an old knee. Old knees get arthritis. Arthritis hurts. That's the short version of my doctor's appointment today. I'm going to do 4 weeks of PT to see if that helps. Anti-inflammatory medications would be helpful, but since they are suspected of being the source of my stomach issues, I can't take them right now. He could explain the location of my pain. That area shouldn't hurt. Not only am I old, I'm weird. Painful knees is one of the downsides of growing old, but this morning I also was honored by one of the upsides.

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This congregation has deep roots, and people who have moved away often come back for visits. I always welcome them home, because this is still their home base, even when they've lived the majority of their lives elsewhere. There is a young woman, Grad, who has been here numerous times with her parents. Both of her parents grew up in the church. I've spoken to her when she's been here, and watched her grow up. She was 12 or 13 the first time I met her. I've probably seen her less than 30 times, and never have had an extended, sit-down conversation with her.

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Today, I received notification that she'd tagged me in a photo on facebook. I was surprised, as I've never had my picture taken with her, but I followed the link. She graduated from college this weekend. There was a picture of the top of her mortarboard with a bunch of names written on it in white, including my name. The caption read "All the Women in my life who got me to graduation day. Thanks." Wow.