Aging like sea glass

A friend asked me about boro stitching today and I referred her to a post I had written about it in 2019. The post included this poem by Bernadette Noll, and I thought it was worth revisiting.

My mother in high school and now 

at 93, beautiful as ever.

I Want to Age Like Sea Glass

by Bernadette Noll

I want to age like sea glass,

Smoothed by tides, not broken.

I want the currents of life to toss me around,

shake me up and leave me feeling

washed clean.

My daughter and granddaughter,

still early in their journeys.

I want my hard edges to soften as the years pass --

not weak, but supple.

I want to ride the waves,

go with the flow,

feel the impact of the

surging tides rolling in and out.

With my mom and youngest sister, 

rolling along.

When I am thrown against the shore

and caught between the rocks and a hard place,

I want to rest there until I can find

the strength to do what is next.

Not stuck -- just waiting, pondering,

feeling what it feels like to pause.

And when I am ready,

I will catch a wave and let it carry me

along to the next place

that I am supposed to be.

I want to be picked up on occasion

by an unsuspecting soul and carried along --

just for the connection,

just for the sake of appreciation and wonder.

And with each encounter,

new possibilities of collaboration

are presented, and new ideas born.

Mom and my middle sister, seven years ago.

I want to age like sea glass

so that when people see

the old woman I'll become,

they'll embrace all that I am.

They'll marvel at my exquisite nature,

hold me gently in their hands,

and be awed by my well-earned patina.

Neither flashy nor dull,

just the right luster.

And they'll wonder, if just for a second,

what it is exactly I am made of

and how I got to be in this very here and now.

And we'll both feel lucky to realize, once again,

that we have landed in that perfectly right place

at that perfectly right time.

Me at 69, silvered hair,

wrinkles, uneven teeth,

tumbling along.

I want to age like sea glass.

I want to enjoy the journey

and let my preciousness be,

not in spite of the impacts of life,

but because of them.

Me, smiling although I'm in a creative rut, haven't ditched the extra weight and still haven't found a romantic partner. Just tumbling along, surfing, going under now and then but always coming back up. Who knows what tomorrow will bring!

And in case you're wondering about boro stitching, here are three posts that I did about it:

boro-stitching-and-aging-like-sea-glass.html

japanese-boro-jackets-in-shibori-dragon.html

snippets.html

Have a colorful day