Somehow I never seemed to master the art
of buttoning all those little buttons marching
up the sides of those shoes. A little gadget
called a button-hook had to be used to pull
the buttons through the button-holes and
this little gadget waged war and defeated
me every time. As a consequence, one of my
brothers both several years older than I)
had to button them for me.

After the button shoes were out of fashion,
I wore brown lace-up high-tops. This time,
my brothers taught me to lace them in two
different styles. I liked the square lace
best and thought it fun to lace them that way.

But I didn't find the shoes fun to wear,
although they were an improvement over all
those buttons. It was indeed a happy day
when the brown high-tops gave way to oxfords!

In 1733, as the story went, members of the family
(though I've no idea who they were) watched a red
cross shine all day in the eastern sky. In 1833
my great-great-grandmother (a saintly lady who
would never think of telling even a white lie) was
afraid to go to the spring for water because "the
stars were falling all day," and she feared she
would be hit by one.

I have never understood why, upon reaching a certain
age, so many people feel they are no longer young,
but old, and that they now must be very careful to
act and dress appropriately for their age. Their
change in attitude brings on a change in appearance
and they begin to look years older than they are.
They dwell so much on their aches and pains one
would think they expect the Grim Reaper to rap
on their door at any moment.

In short, they have abandoned all enjoyment of
life simply because they believe their age in
years automatically makes them old. There is
no joy to be found in their company.

But once in a while one meets a person who, in
spite of an advanced age, is still young in mind
and spirit. Through the years I have greatly
admired the few such people whom I have met and
I have cherished their companionship.

My Great Aunt Alice was one of these. She had a
zest for living, a fantastic sense of humor, a
sharp clear mind and an ability to fit in with
any age group, no matter how young or old. I
loved to visit her and listen to her talk. The
fact that she was more than fifty years older
than I made no difference. She was as young as
springtime and truly a joy to be near. She
never complained, though I could tell she was
in a great deal of pain at times. Always ready
to get out and go, at 86 she could outwalk me.

Aunt Alice had not had an easy life. Money had
been in short supply. So when a couple of years
before her death she bought a new pair of shoes
for $20, it seemed an exorbitant price to her--and
she felt a little guilty at having paid so much.

"My goodness, I never paid that much for a pair
of shoes in my whole life!" she said. But she did
love those shoes!

Walking to Mass on Sunday morning, the slick new
soles caused her to slip and fall, breaking an arm
and her collarbone. There was no feeling sorry for
herself. No complaining. Instead, she laughed
merrily and said,
"There I was, marching along in my new shoes and
feeling so proud of them! There's an old saying:
Pride goeth before a fall. Well, I found out it's
true!"

If there were more people like Aunt Alice, the world
would be a better place. I suppose I am old, if you
count the years, and I will admit I'm not exactly a
spring chicken. But I don't feel old, I don't think
old, and I know I neither act nor look as old as my
years, for people do a double-take when they learn
my age.

Except for a body that has been rendered a little
heavier, a little slower and a little less agile by
the passage of time, I feel no older than I did forty
years ago. When occasionally I am required to state
my age on some document, I am brought up short by the
realization that I have lived through a great many
years and I am indeed no longer young. Astounded,
I stare at the figures and ask myself, "Am I really
that old? Where has time gone?" But I have always
believed that age is a state of mind and not a matter
of chronology and so I refuse to think of myself as
being old.