As a post-menopausal woman, I have noticed my waist expanding, the roll around my ribs softening, my boobs dropping and my thighs even enlarging a bit.   These changes describe me of today, despite my being an active person who tries to eat healthfully, takes long regular walks, practices yoga and t’ai chi daily, and has always been slender.  How can this beastly change be happening?

As I open the Internet, I realize from the ads and solicitations that I am not the only woman of advancing years, who experiences these unmerciful changes! There are colorful come-ons for diet herbs and medications, gentle and not-so-gentle exercise programs, creams, machines, and what would appear to be magical solutions to a “fluffier” body.

Now, I am a rational person, at least most of the time, and I have begun to wonder why there are thousands of women trying to swim upstream as our bodies are very normally preparing us for a new life.  What new life, you ask? 

Despite my regular exercise and careful eating, my body has become softer, and my lap is more comfortable and inviting. My body is readying itself for a new role in life.  A grandmother’s lap is just that way, isn’t it? Warm, accepting, comforting, and cozy. This lap is attached to a person who sees and accepts grandchildren as wonderful gifts, made for their coddling and soothing, rocking and cooing. Could these unwelcome changes be evolutionary? A natural process to prepare humans to provide generational nurturing to infants and little ones and needed relief for their parents?

No grandchildren? Well, no worries.  This soft, “fluffy” lap supports the sleepy head of a worn-out pet or cradles the body of a cuddly dog who simply needs a bit of a squeeze.  It supports a heavy novel or an e-book very comfortably, as well. 

Now that I’ve figured out this troublesome mystery, I will rest and read a bit for a few minutes before tackling another of life’s issues.