Reflections of ....the way life used to be.....

This past weekend we attended an engagement party for our friends Rebecca and Brent. It was great for us, especially, because it looked like a PTA reunion of parents from the '80's. All my daughter's friends' parents were there and it was lovely.

So this of course obviously led to a discussion of what it's like to be a certain age. (Rebecca's dad turned s*x*y on November 29th....) My friend Erica opined that it was like a Renaissance. You could embark on a variety of new paths in life and experience them in the fullness of time. Which of course provoked Mort to say that, to have a Renaissance, you have to go through the Dark Ages. After death there is resurrection and all that.

Well, that's true. For me, my 40's were the dark ages. But what is also true is that to truly embrace being 60, one has to acknowledge the "death" of certain things that simply are not going to happen. I am not going to be the first female Supreme Court justice (one of my early goals.) Not only have we had three, but I never did go to law school so it's a nonstarter. I also never did start my project of hiking the Appalachian Trail in segments. It's not that I COULDNT not start this project, but having hosted through-hikers this summer, I think it's a project best left to the young. I am content to hear their trail stories.....

So having said all that, we wish our friend Ellen a very happy 60th birthday tomorrow. Ellen is best known in some circles for two things: inventing the concept of "martyr points" as in "I have enough martyr points for a washer-dryer combination" and washing strawberries VERY THOROUGHLY in college (which necessitated rinsing them even MORE THOROUGHLY). Since that time she has distinguished herself in fields of endeavor too numerous to count.

For my part, I have decided that this decade will be dedicated to fomenting revolution in unlikely places and enjoying being part of the background of history....

Well, I DID IT!

Yep. For real. Not practice anymore.

I am officially s*x*y.

So what, do you ask, does it FEEL like?

GOOD!

Because my new hobby is looking at other people who are around my age and realizing that I stack up pretty well. Not in the "beautiful" category but in the "gee, you sure don't LOOK s*x*y!" category.

One reason it is feeling pretty good is that my four children (two biological, other two married to the two biological) gave me a SMASHING bday party! Most of the people in the room had known me at least half my life. And they still showed up!

Now that (optimistically) I'm two-thirds of the way to the finish line of life, what do I plan to do with the next 30 years?

1. Hug my granddaughters
2. Visualize whirled peas
3. Eliminate teeth-grinding and other outward manifestations of stress
4. Be thankful for what I have (no materially but spiritually and emotionally...)
5. Be careful what I wish for
6. Stay hopeful
7. Love my family and friends
8. Try to make the world a better place
9. Keep checking things off on my "I've always wanted to...." list
10. Keep moving

We'll check back on this list from time to time. No promises.