Aging Hands

Aging Hands

Alyson has been home on her quarter break for the past two weeks. One day we were talking and I noticed her hands. They are smooth with very few veins showing. I looked at my own hands and noticed that they looked aged- they are wrinkled and my veins stand out dramatically. I began thinking, what have my hands done over the past fifty years to get this way?

My hands have worked - from yard work as a child, to Dairy Queen as a teenager, to Gulf South Benefits as an adult. My hands have loved. They have wiped noses, wiped counters and wiped tears - including my own. They have loved and they have lost. They have brought both comfort and discipline.

With that perspective when I look at my hands now, instead of being embarrassed that they have aged, I think of the experiences they have had and the irreplaceable moments they were needed - giving a hug to someone hurting, doing dishes when someone else was exhausted. It’s the little things we do daily that matter so much.

As we age, let’s not get down on our bodies. Aging can be beautiful. It’s all in how we look at it!