By Joseph J. Mazella

Beep! Beep! Beep!

I rolled over in the dark room and turned off the alarm clock. I started to get up but my 51 year old back ached in protest. I sat up in bed and stretched it to no avail. It still hurt a lot. I wondered if I was going to need some aspirins to make it feel better today. I slowly stumbled into the bathroom to grab a drink of water. I turned on the light and saw a hurting, haggard face staring back at my from the mirror. It wasn’t a pretty sight.

I pulled on my clothes and coat and started to untangle the dog leases on the kitchen table. Suddenly, two white paws thumped on the table beside me and a huge, furry head snuggled in against my chest. I gave my dog, Fluffy a hug and smiled. Then I noticed my oldest son walking down the hall already in a happy mood about the day to come. He too joined in the hug before I took Fluffy out for his morning walk. The grass was frosty but the heavens above had just started to change. The sky was full of pink and red clouds that seemed painted with our Heavenly Father’s love. I looked at them for a long while and then said my favorite prayer: “Thank you God!” I noticed something too. My back was no longer hurting. Later when I looked in the mirror again to shave all I saw was a young, loving soul staring back at me.

Jeanne Moreau wrote: “Age doesn’t protect you from love. But love, to some extent, protects you from age.” No matter how old, aching, stooped, gray, or wrinkled your body gets then always keep your love burning bright. Love God. Love yourself. And love everyone else. Love animals. Love music. Love this world we live in. Love life itself. If you do then no matter how old your body seems to be, you will always be young. You will be young where it counts. You will be young in your heart. You will be young in your soul. You will be young in your life. You will be the eternal Child of God you were meant to be.