My last day to be 75

Well, this is fun.

Just found a little piece I had written on this date in 2010.

A moment when I chose to celebrate my last day of being 59.

Today I pause to remember that time.

To remember that we were in the middle of some hard times on that day.

Times when I wondered where I belonged.

Places where I no longer felt welcome.

That was a most unusual feeling for me.

For nearly all of my life I had felt at home and welcome in my world. It had been a good life for the first 50+ years, but that decade had brought some rough news and difficult discoveries and had messed with my sense of belonging.

However... as I read those lines today I can see that I was choosing to focus on the positive, to celebrate the good parts of that moment.  

Little did I know when I wrote and posted that bit of celebration how things might change! Yet that coming summer things began to pivot rather surprisingly. Turns out that my 60’s became a decade of adventure and some crazy changes.

Adventures indeed!  During those next few years we lived on four different islands for short periods. We were “home-free” for awhile and lived in a 28-foot RV for two of those years.

And now we have settled in again… in a new place where I feel welcome… even though it is so different than what used to feel like home to me.

What an amazing journey and what a surprising landing.

What joy to once again be welcomed and to find a sense of belonging.

…

I am really glad that I bumped into that little bit of writing today.

I had barely begun writing just a few short months earlier.

On that day I had no clue what I might soon be writing about.

Sure enough.

I kept building that writing habit.

I kept trying to capture the adventures as they happened.

During those early writing days I wondered if I dared call myself a writer.

Eventually I decided that I could… IF I was writing.

So I did.

I kept writing and even published a book - about that next decade.

I have continued writing into my 70s. 

I wrote another book - this one about my spiritual journey.

As I pause again on this last day of being 75, I continue to be amazed.

And yes, I realize that I can only imagine the adventures ahead.

Officially old

I am officially old today. And that's okay.

The number we assign to "old" changes as we edge closer to it. But this is the official one. This is the birthday that might be most commonly associated with being officially old. At least a turning point. Retirement age.

I am officially old today. And it's not just okay; it's pretty cool.

Well, now... Feeling old is another thing. Not so fun to feel old - but then that can happen with any birthday and often in between.

But being old... Having the privilege of getting old... Now that's something to cherish - especially after going through two bouts of cancer. We joke about how getting old is better than the alternative - of not getting old.

Yep, it is good to have a sense of humor about this aging thing. But I'm dead serious in my sense of gratitude to be here. To be at this moment in my life. To be able to live this new adventure with my dear man. To have the freedom to move about and be near our kids and grandkids. To be mobile. To travel. To explore more of the world and to live in different places. To try new things.

What a privilege! May the occasional stiff joints serve to remind me to be grateful for the mobility I do have and to take advantage of it. And may I celebrate every moment of this new year.

Yep, I am officially old today. And loving it!!!

Thoughts on aging

Looking through some of my old posts I am.
Since this is the month of my birth, I notice the ones about getting old so here they are again.

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Never resent growing old.
Some are denied the privilege.

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Optimists age like wine....
Pessimists age like milk.

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George Burns:
You know you're getting old when you stoop to tie your shoelaces and wonder what else you could do while you're down there

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And the camp-meeting preacher used to speak of furniture disease:
when your chest drops into your drawers.

Further thoughts on aging

"Never resent growing old. Some are denied the privilege."

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"Optimists age like wine.... Pessimists age like milk."

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"You know you're getting old when you stoop to tie your shoelaces and wonder what else you could do while you're down there."
-George Burns

Celebrating 59

Tomorrow is my birthday.
Today I celebrate my last day of being 59.
No, not like some women celebrate being 39 - again.

Why are we women so touchy about our age anyway? I wonder about that. Does it have anything to do with how highly we value youth & beauty in our culture? That's not a bad thing. I spend time on Facebook looking at my young friends' photos of their new babies - and my even younger friends' prom pictures from last week-end. So cute. So young. So beautiful. But how sad if our obsession with youth and beauty causes us to devalue age and maturity.

Birthdays are milestones, to be sure, and not always pleasant ones. Lots of thoughts have been swirling in my mind about this big one coming tomorrow. I guess the main thing that bubbles to the surface is celebration. I have so many reasons to celebrate. The most obvious one in my mind is that, after being diagnosed with cancer at age 53, I didn't know whether I would see this day. Yep, I'm a big advocate for getting old - because it sure beats the alternative. I am also blessed to be in many ways in better health than I was at the last big b-day. Back then, I was what my doctor called "de-conditioned" - translated "badly out of shape" - when I couldn't pass a stress test. Now I'm able to walk a mile (or two or three) at a time. Yesterday I walked four!!!

But probably the best thing that has happened in the last decade is that I have been catapulted from religious obligation to spiritual freedom. Not freedom to make selfish choices, but freedom to set healthy boundaries - and especially freedom to discover grace. It really is amazing and I'm so glad that I get to experience it.

Many times during those 59+ years, I realized that mine has been a good life and I'm thrilled to discover that at least in some ways it just keeps getting better. That's something to celebrate!