The Thing About Age

St. Patrick’s Day is my husband’s birthday.
When people realize his last name is Gallagher, the inevitable question is asked.
Why isn’t your name, Patrick?
The answer, that he has given so many times, is given once again.

Because I have a brother named Patrick! He says with the same inflection.
My husband is the fifth of eight children.
The brother born before him is named, Patrick.
Had his mother known she would have a son on St. Patrick’s Day…

My husband’s middle name is Patrick.
One of our sons has his Dad’s name as his middle name.
Our other son has his Dad’s middle name as his middle name.
My husband is Irish through and through.

My husband is four months older than me.
In the scheme of things, that difference in age is insignificant.
However, when our oldest daughter was in preschool, it was a different matter.
Children hear more than you think they hear.

I always loved to tease my husband (I still do) that I am younger than him.
For eight months out of the year, we are the same numerical age.
But for four months out of the year, his age is one number older than my age.
How fun it was to tease him that I am married to an older man.

At the parent/teacher conference at the preschool, the teacher seemed surprised to see us.
We sat down and tried to read the look on her face.
She realized how she must have appeared.
Then she started to laugh.

Forgive me, she said between giggles.
It’s just that I expected…trying to choose the right words.
Your daughter told me that her mommy was married to an older man.
I laughed so hard, realizing that my innocent teasing was worth repeating to her teacher.

My words came back to me.
The innocence of my daughter as she heard without understanding.
We still laugh about that incident.
I tend to remember it every St. Patrick’s Day.

The great thing about getting older is that you don’t lose all the other ages you’ve been.
(Madeleine L’Engle)

Age is just a number.
Some don’t like to see their age increase by one number each birthday.
Some people embrace their age and cherish the wisdom gained as they mature.
Getting older is not the same as getting old.

As we age, our bodies don’t perform the way they used to when we were younger.
We see the wrinkles around the eyes.
We see the gray in our hair.
We hear creaks and clicks we never heard before, especially when we wake up each morning.

Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.
(2 Corinthians 4:16)

Outwardly, we will see the changes in our bodies.
Inwardly, there is renewal, if we are in Christ.
That inner renewal is beautiful.
That inner change is something others will notice quicker than we notice it in ourselves.

My daughter was right.
Her mommy is married to an older man.
Though, age is just a number.
It is the inner beauty of which I am more concerned.