Thank You Judith Viorst: The Pleasures of An Ordinary Life

It seems to me like Judith Viorst would be frozen in time. Her books have been so timeless, yet she has grown up with the rest of us. Each decade of her life she has written a volume of poetry sharing the joys and ups and downs of reaching that age. I have to admit I was shocked recently to discover she has a volume for the seventies and eighties. How did Judith Viorst get to be eighty? It proves the point I always say.... age is just a number. The following poem by Viorst came from her "Forever Fifties" volume . This poem makes perfect sense to me. I to have grasped and hung on to those sweet sweet pleasures of ordinary life. The Pleasures of  An Ordinary Life

Of dreams I know no longer can come true. I'm done now with the whys and the becauses. It's time to make things good, not just make do. It's time to stop complaining and pursue The pleasures of an ordinary life. I used to rail against my compromises. I yearned for the wild music, the swift race. But happiness arrived in new disguises: Sun lighting a child's hair. A friend's embrace. Slow dancing in a safe and quiet place. The pleasures of an ordinary life. I'll have no trumpets, triumphs, trails of glory. It seems the woman I've turned out to be Is not the heroine of some grand story. But I have learned to find the poetry In what my hands can touch, my eyes can see. The pleasures of an ordinary life. Young fantasies of magic and of mystery Are over. But they really can't compete With all we've built together: A long history. Connections that help render us complete. Ties that hold and heal us. And the sweet, Sweet pleasures of an ordinary life. Judith Viorst