We celebrated my human artist's 60th birthday this week and I, Rocky, turned 72 (in human years) last week. My human's childhood friend sent us this email, and we'd like to share it with all our cat & human friends who worry about growing older .....

13 Reasons Why Aging is a Gift

1) I am now, maybe for the first time in my life, the person I have always wanted to be. Oh, not my body! I sometimes despair over the wrinkles, the baggy eyes, and the sagging butt. I am often taken aback by that old person who lives in my mirror (who looks like my mother!), but I don't agonize over those things for long.

2) I would never trade my amazing friends, my wonderful life, my loving family for less gray hair or a flatter belly. I have seen too many dear friends leave this world too soon, before they experienced the great freedom that comes with aging.

3) I am so blessed to have lived long enough to have my hair turning gray, and to have my youthful laughs be forever etched into deep grooves on my face.
4) As I've aged, I've become kinder to myself, and less critical of myself. I've become my own best friend.
5) I don't chide myself for eating that extra cookie, or for not making my bed, or for buying that silly cement gecko that I didn't need, but looks so avant garde on my patio. I am entitled to a treat, to be messy, to be extravagant.

6) Whose business is it if I choose to read or play on the computer until 4 AM and sleep until noon?

7) I will dance with myself to those wonderful tunes of the 60 & 70's, and if I, at the same time, wish to weep over a lost love, I will.

8) I will walk the beach in a swimsuit that is stretched over a bulging body, and will dive into the waves with abandon if I choose to, despite the pitying glances from the jet set. They, too, will grow older.

9) I know I am sometimes forgetful. But some of life is just as well forgotten. And I eventually remember the important things.

10) Sure, over the years my heart has been broken. How can your heart not break when you lose a loved one, or when a child suffers, or when a beloved pet goes over the Rainbow Bridge? But broken hearts are what give us strength, understanding and compassion. A heart never broken is pristine and sterile and will never know the joy of being imperfect.

11) As I get older, it is easier to be positive. I care less about what other people think of me. I don't question myself anymore. I've earned the right to be wrong.

12) Being older has set me free. I like the person I have become. I am not going to live forever, but while I am still here, I will not waste time lamenting what could have been, or worrying about what will be.
13) And I shall eat dessert (and Temptations!) every single day!