Enlightened Agedness

In the unavoidable circumstances we
name the passage of time we age, and
what was once so clear fades; we mature
and become a fainter image of what we
once were. Just as time and the elements
abrade and mellow mineral surfaces,
so too does it impact on the creatures
of the Earth, as the early passions of
life dim and recede. When my mother
of deadly lashing tongue and wicked 
elbows with whom daily life was a 
trial by fire reached near senescence,
calm and good humour, and no little
amount of gentle confusion overtook her,
so when an even older male companion
materialized, 90 to her 70, and fondness
bloomed, her children were amused,
startled, finally accepting. As though
her intimate affairs were ours to approve
of. Or not. Her grief at his passing
matched ours at hers. And now, myself
the age she was then, all makes sense.