The deepening colors of aging

My young adult granddaughter gave me a 2024 Audubon bird calendar. I asked her if she also had one, and then we could discuss the bird of the day. She thought that was a great idea and bought one. This month we have talked about the scarlet tanager — the “cardinal's cousin.” It is a beauty. The male is a brilliant red, with black wings and tail.

We get the western tanager, totally different markings, in our part of the country. Scarlet tanagers are more eastern, arriving from their South American migration and feeding in the treetops where no one can usually see them.

What fascinated me is the calendar notes that the “older a male scarlet tanager grows, the more scarlet he will become in breeding season. First year birds are nearly orange, and with each subsequent season the birds will get deeper and deeper red.” 

My thoughts veered toward people and the ways we become more brilliant with age. Or that is the hope anyway. I told my granddaughter, “Age can fade people, but I hope that's not me.” Having just turned 72, I know age has jerked the reins a bit. But overall I have a feeling of “gaining my color.” I am more observant and more caring. My faith runs deeper. I have a greater grasp of purpose. I'm growing in wisdom — and able to glean joy and peace from that. That elusive quality of wonder, like the tanagers hiding in the treetops, is popping out more. A spirit of gratitude fills me more than it used to. 

After an angiogram back in February the cardiologist left the room saying, “You look phenomenal for your age.” Not my heart, obviously, but my face. I have never looked “phenomenal.” In fact, I try hard just to keep up with “average.” Still, it was nice to hear — and possibly he saw some of time's “deepening color.”

Illness and loss and grief and bitterness and disappointment and cynicism can sure “fade” a person, as the years go by. No one is a stranger to these. But to give them too much authority is to forget what God can do for me and in me and through me. It is to say there is no more growth for me, no more brilliance. My good days, my contributing years and my receiving moments are behind. Not so! A vivid mindset sees life's color. Age only deepens it.