Editor’s Note: We all like to be loved and feel pampered. Our IL member Mindian muses of how life would be when she grows old.  If you have any such stories do share them with us here

The BEST romantic love story is not of Romeo and Juliet who died in love together but of grandma and grandpa who lived in love together

Today morning, I realized how true the above lines are, as I observed an elderly couple in their morning stroll. The gentleman just couldn’t walk slowly and the poor wife couldn’t keep pace with him, so he would walk for some distance and wait for her to catch up. She gave me a sweet smile as I passed them, and for the rest of my walk I couldn’t help wondering how I would be at that age. 

I had a lot of time today to indulge in some wishful thinking. God knows what HE has planned for me but this is how I would like my love story to be. 

My day would ideally begin late. I am not a morning person. After his usual morning walk,hubby would make us our early morning cuppa (don’t you agree that in old age , housework has to be equally shared?) and SOME days (see how realistic I am even in wishing) even wake me up with a hug and say “how beautiful you look, even after ALL these years. All that grey hair and wrinkles have only added to your charm, dear”(you can blame that on all those mushy romances that I watch with my daughter LOL).We would spend the next one hour having our morning coffee and reading the newspaper, enjoying the silence in the morning air that is interrupted ONLY by the birds coming for some water and grains that I provide for them in my balcony everyday.

Then I would prepare breakfast, shower, pray and hand over the reins to my wonderful maid (being an optimist I daresay such a category exists) who would first chop a lot of veggies. In case you are wondering why this veggie mania , it is because I hate that job and hubby just loves veggies so 3- 4 veggies everyday including one greens and a salad is a treat I keep promising him but very rarely fulfill.

I would then finish cooking lunch and dinner too. Like many others, wanting a good cook has never been on my wish list. Both of us enjoy my simple cooking which I have never regarded as a chore and so only pray that HE gives me the strength to do it till our last day together. I would do only the cooking and probably dusting some of my crystal (SIGH! Those prized possessions towards which I would STILL not have developed a sense of detachment).

We would then be away from home (yes, together… because you see, I still would not have learnt to drive) for a minimum of two hours. Ideally, we would go to any orphanage and teach or read out to children, for both of us are very fond of kids. Or we would go to a senior citizens home and just spend time talking to them or reading to them. Of course, financially too we would continue to help them.

We would then come home for lunch by which time the maid would have finished all the other work. After that, I would slip into my virtual world for sometime and then my back would invariably protest, so I would lie down with a book. 

In the evening after tea, go down and meet friends and then go for a long walk with hubby (this way I ensure that he walks twice…..am I not clever?) 
Come back; say my evening prayers and then an early light dinner. After which we plonk ourselves in front of the idiot box, and play scrabble or chess. We end the day by talking (or rather listening….after all we may have nothing much to talk, no?) to my daughter daily, wherever she is.

There! I am actually a little relieved after writing it down. Nothing unreasonable or unattainable there, don’t you think? I am ready to accept it with all the aches and groans. Growing old together doesn’t sound very tough but only because I always think of myself as a part of ‘US’. So let me just end with the quote – “Treasure each other in the recognition that we do not know how long we shall have each other.”.