Keys

Once there was a little girl who looked around and decided that she was in no hurry to grow up.
But she did.
Then she got old—as some little girls do.
There were things she liked about being old and things she didn’t.
She didn’t like she had to get a tooth pulled and her hair was falling out. But she always liked hats and now was her chance…
She hated the foot doctor.
Mostly, she didn’t like the losses she’d had to face as she got older. She lost her parents and way too many friends. She lost her two favorite cousins. She didn’t like having to put her dogs “to sleep” after they’d been so patient and loyal to her. Loss was certainly the worst part of getting old. People disappeared, but the memories lingered. She assumed that was what people meant by being haunted. But being haunted wasn’t the worst thing if you let the bad parts drift off and kept the good memories. But you still had to live with loss.
She didn’t like where the world was going, but she didn’t want to be the cron who complains all the time.
She liked peanut butter and ice cream and all the good memories—even when they made her sad.
She wasn’t crazy about the fact that she’d forgotten many of the things she’d learned along the way, but she did like that those things were stowed away somewhere inside where they continued to influence her thoughts and decisions. She liked that she could trust her instincts. She liked that she didn’t feel she had to please anyone, that she could ask snoopy questions and people would attribute nosiness to her age and not be offended.
She was never offended when they didn’t answer, but she loved that they often did.
She liked water—but let’s not talk bathing suits.
She liked old trees, stars, and babies. She liked dogs. She didn’t like cats but there were certainly “cat people” that she liked very much.
She liked her faded orange shirt enough to mend a hole in the sleeve.

Living with loss wasn’t pleasant, but she was satisfied that she’d persevere; there were too many every-day wonders to appreciate.

Now, where did she leave her keys?