"Older"

I was waiting for Bekah to have her piano lesson, settled in on a cozy sofa in the waiting area, warm and comfy and reading my book.  Then something startled me.

I read this line...

"The back door swung open, and an attractive older woman, in her fifties perhaps, strolled from the house."

Did you see what that said?!  An "older woman"...in her fifties?

{Wake up call!}

At first, I snickered.  This author must be about 25 years old, I scorned. 

I read the passage aloud to Kati (18) who I supposed would also see the humor in this.  But she was not startled by the words. At all.  "The author is writing from Valerie's perspective," she reasoned. (Valerie, aged 19, is the main character.) Okay.

When I had my first baby, I was just 19 years old.  (I turned 20 a few days later, but I was 19.)  My son was born two years later, when I was 21 (22 within the month).  And during the early years of raising these two children, I was the young mother, usually the youngest in any group of mothers.

I was 33 when my third child was born.  There were plenty of mothers my age.

Then my youngest child was born when I was 40.  I was no longer the young mother.  I am now one of the oldest moms in every activity of my child's age mates.

But still, seeing in print "an older woman, in her fifties perhaps" gave me pause for thought.  

Does it come down to the fact that age is relative? 

We used to be amused at my great aunt who, in her seventies, referred to her bridge partners as "the girls." 

My mom took issue with something I said in a recent blog post.  I had said that one of the reasons that I don't move furniture around like I used to is because I am too old.  "You're just a kid," she opined. 

And of course, we all remember thinking, as a child, that a certain person was "old," only to be startled years later when we learn just how "old" that person was when we thought it. 

So, to some, I am now "older."  (In case you haven't kept up with the math, I am 51.)  

What does that mean?  I mean, besides a few aches and pains and less energy.

It should mean that I am an example to younger women, and a teacher of good things. 

How do I know that?  He tells me so:

The aged women likewise,
that they be in behavior as becometh holiness,
not false accusers, not given to much wine,
teachers of good things;

That they may teach the young women to be sober,
to love their husbands, to love their children,
to be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good,
obedient to their own husbands,
that the word of God be not blasphemed.

(Galations 6:8 NKJV)

A heavy responsibity...but mine nonetheless. 

Help me as I ponder this. 

Are you an "older woman"?  How do you fulfill this instruction?

Are you a "younger woman" who looks to an older woman for example and for instruction?  Is it easy to find such women?  How have they helped you?

***

EDITED TO ADD:
I am also having this discussion on facebook, and decided to add some of my friend's comments to the comments here.