Standing in the checkout line last week in the supermarket, I looked longingly at the mostly empty "self checkout" lines. No white hair there! With my usual six or seven items, I always seem to end up behind someone with the kind of order I used to have, back when I had five kids - you know, cases of cokes, six kinds of snacks and cereal, gallon jugs of milk, a couple of dozens of eggs, orange juice and so on.

Then I noticed the woman ahead of me in the line had all that, plus three large packages of disposable diapers as well. Believe it or not, she kindly offered to let me go ahead of her in the line. I declined, saying that I really wasn't in all that much of a hurry, and that her order was already laid out on the conveyer belt.

But really, I loved standing there recalling the past, remembering that when I was raising kids, there were no disposable diapers, and thinking about my husband's insistence that we would have the diaper-wash service come to our home so that I would never have to wash dirty diapers every day.

Once a week the diaper truck would arrive with three huge packages of sparkling white diapers. There was a big, white, enameled can with a built-in deodorizer under the lid which sat snugly in the corner of the nursery room, and opened with the touch of a foot pedal. The driver wore wearing his impeccable uniform and matching cap, and carried away the used diapers after delivering the new.

My neighbors, whose children were grown, were amazed at this luxury - in their day, a diaper service business didn't exist. I remember that my husband always said there are two things a girl with a big family always needs: a bathroom of her own and a diaper service.

Hey, I didn't really mind waiting in line all these years later while my neighbor checked out her order. It made me feel that when it came to picking out husbands, I really picked a winner.

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A study published in Journals of Studies of Alcohol at Rutgers University of New Jersey tells us that alcoholrelated automobile crashes result in more than $100 billion in costs per year. This includes medical care, property damage, lost wages, emergency transportation and other costs.

It is also estimated that more sobriety checkpoints could reduce the number of non-fatal injuries suffered each year.

Automobile insurance premiums continue to increase annually, with alcohol-related crashes as a prominent cause. Please keep this in mind, with Mardi Gras season in full swing. Although senior drivers are the least likely to be the cause of such accidents, we should all encourage others to refrain from drinking before driving.

Ask anyone how they feel about growing old and you are likely to get a negative response. Yet, in this generation, old age has become a much larger portion of our life span. So we should find ways to help us feel that we still have purpose and meaning.

This means not withdrawing or becoming self-absorbed, but instead stressing our creativity and seeking opportunities to pass on our acquired wisdom. We can become involved in civic associations, church and volunteer work, or maybe most enjoyable of all, find that hobby that you finally have time to pursue.

An unusual group gathers at the Bayview Senior Center on Mondays at 5 p.m. They are the Alley Cat Street Band, and they have fun making music out of such unorthodox instruments as spoons, washtubs, kazoos and other fun stuff.

While not exclusively restricted to seniors, most of the current musicmakers are members of the over-60 crowd. If you still have that spark of fun-loving frivolity, maybe you too would like to investigate the group, and attend a rehearsal. Call Bayview Center at 436-5190 for more information.

Most of us are still in pretty good health and able to enjoy life, and if you can plan your days with an upbeat outlook, you may find that Robert Browning spoke the truth when he said 'grow old along with me, the best is yet to be."

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With politics in the news right now, I find this a timely quote from the Speaker of The US House of Representatives way back in 1902:

"Members of Congress never open their mouths without subtracting from the sum of human knowledge."

See you next week!