If you came here looking for something profound and life changing, you need to change the station now.  This is exactly as stated….

As I attempted to refill my black mango tea cup today, the sweetener was not set up correctly. As I poured a small taste into my cup of both non-sweetened and sweetened, it was clear there was a sweetener issue.  The staff at QuikTrip confirmed the sweetener issue and made up a new batch.  And, because of my wait, they provided two coupons for a free drink refill.  As I attempted my second draw of tea, I must have been distracted because it did not go so well.  I coughed and hacked and drooled on the floor.  As I attempted to clean up my mess and draw a normal breath, my tea princess popped her head around the corner to check on me.  I thanked her and let her know I would make it.

I have been breathing all of my life.  (Well, since I believe life begins at conception, I guess “darn near most of it” would be a more accurate statement. Breathing without lungs is something not even an illusionist like David Copperfield could get away it.)  And, with the exception of the time frame just mentioned, I have been drinking (i.e. milk, tea, coffee, water etc.)  most of my life.  Maybe I have been occasionally choking most of my life as well.  It is bad enough having a self-inducing coughing/choking fit in your home with just your children or siblings to mock you.  When you have such an attack in a public place where you have already drawn attention to yourself, every one of the spittey, drooley, frothey, projectile balls flying from your mouth seems like a reason to be referred to you as an aging member of society with compromised bodily functions.

I am not that old.  I don’t look that old.  But, I do creak more along with more of all of the other noises that are part of the human experience.  And, maybe living in my body for a number of years now makes me sensitive to the odd looks and personal questions more than I should.  I was young once with an absolute certainty I would never age.  I used to look at older people and wonder how they were able to function in a body so lacking in youth.  Now, the mirror, my ears, joints and hairline confirm I am on the path to what I saw as old.  Fortunately, I continue to reset the boundary.  Although I am older, old is reserved for people in the cemetery–I have PLENTY of time!