For many years I thought about how to talk about the joys of aging rather than the dilemma of aging, Let’s face it getting a seat on the bus and subway just because you have gray hair is not a bad thing. And what about senior discounts. I don’t know about you, but I love them.

About 5 years ago I had a conversation about this with my friend Denise. Denise and I had began a practice of speaking twice a week in order to support each other in achieving our goals. Really to have our dreams fulfilled.

We had had these calls for a few weeks and mostly supported each other in our businesses – my consulting and her art. On this call I finally told her about my idea for a blog on the joys of aging. Denise, more than 20 years younger than me, loved the idea, We started to brainstorm about topics and how to get started. I had already gotten a website “Where Life Leads You”

The call shifted to Denise. As an amazing artist she was very excited about being invited to have a show at a major New York gallery. Denise was flying high, She was so excited, not just about the show, she also was thrilled about the little girl she and her husband just adopted. She loved her husband and knew he loved and adored her. Life was definitely good. One of the reasons she loved my blog idea was because it would give her ways to keep life full of joy.

The only negative for Denise was she had just found out she had the gene that causes breast cancer. Rather than being scared she was taking it on, She had scheduled a procedure that would let her know what was “so” about having the gene.

We giggled about what great lives we had and, Denise kept saying I want to live forever. I’m ready for whatever life gives me — nothing’s going to get me down. We outlined our actions until the next call — I was going to write two or three possible blogs and Denise was going to continue working on a painting and have the procedure.

Before we hung up we talked about the new puppy I was getting and what to name him. Denise suggested his name be an acronym for my blog site — WLLY. How perfect, my puppy was named, Wlly — no “I”.

It was a great call and we hung up very happy, very motivated and full of possibility.

The next day Denise died during the procedure . . . I dedicate this blog to her

Aging is a privilege and not everyone gets to participate.