Bena Mae’s Kitchen: Old Age Sucks

Back when I was a kid, I thought 65 was ancient. Now as I look back, I see it as one of the most exciting times of my life. I wrote, traveled, joined committees, served on the library board, planted flowers in flower containers around town, attended political rallies…if there was a cause that sparked my interest, I joined it.
Life was good.
Now that my 86th birthday is looming around the corner, I consider it a good day if I can walk to the mailbox. Age creeps up on you my friend. It does it slowly and subtly, one day at a time and eventually you find yourself squinting at the television set and wondering why the people speak so low. And why do you have to ask someone to repeat something constantly?
When you get to this age, why does everything suck, the food, the news, fashion — who can walk in 4-inch heels? Commercials on TV look as though they were produced by a third grade art class. They make no sense and leave you wondering what in the world they are advertising. Cartoons of butterflies, birds and bees telling you about the best automobile on the market? Why not just show a car?
Then there is the fisherman-like tackle box full of pills — for memory, blood pressure, for cholesterol, for bones, for heart, kidneys, and depression. Taking them is almost like playing Russian roulette because each one has an attachment that says they MAY have side effects…dizziness, swelling of the tongue and throat, memory loss, suicidal thoughts, constipation, diarrhea, heart palpitations, shortness of breath, insomnia…stroke. Is the cure worse than the disease? If we stopped taking them, would our body re-adjust itself and operate normally?
And why do younger people treat us as though we are decrepit or senile? Age doesn’t necessarily mean senility in every person. Many of us remember that two and two make four and we are still cognizant of what is happening around us. We don’t want to be treated as a four-year-old. We know our government officials make laws that have no relevance to our daily lives and are only interested in the next election.
And it’s not our age that repels us when comedians go over the line with their gross language and sexually explicit dialogue. At our age we’ve seen and heard it all and are no longer affected by their juvenile attempts at shocking us. We lived through WWII. Can anything be more shocking than that?
But all is not lost. We still have excellent writers who are pouring out good novels every day. P.D. James, the best fiction crime writer who ever put pen to paper is 94 years old and is still writing. May she live forever. And there’s always Masterpiece Theater on PBS.

A tropical pineapple frosting tops these angel food cupcakes.

Angel Lush Cupcakes

1 (16 ounce) package angel food cake mix
1 (3.4 ounce) package JELL-O Vanilla
Flavor Instant Pudding
2 (8 ounce) cans DOLE Crushed
Pineapple in Juice, undrained
1 cup thawed COOL WHIP Whipped Topping
15 fresh strawberries, cut in half

Heat oven to 375 degrees F.
Prepare cake batter as directed on package; pour into 30 paper-lined muffin cups, filling each cup 2/3 full. Bake 12 to 15 min. or until tops are golden brown and cracks feel dry. (Note: If baking in batches, refrigerate remaining batter in bowl until ready to pour into lined muffin cups and bake.) Cool cupcakes in pans 10 min.; remove to wire racks. Cool completely.
Mix dry pudding mix and pineapple in medium bowl. Gently stir in COOL WHIP; spread onto cupcakes.
Top with be halved strawberries