Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Thankful to be Here

Well, it is official ... I am sixty years old .... 6-0 people!  I didn't really ever think about getting this old.  Its not one of those birthdays one looks forward to, like turning 16 so that we can drive, or 21 so that we can go into clubs.  And, its not even the half-century mark ... that ship has sailed.

I was born on Thanksgiving day sixty years ago.  My birthday falls on Thanksgiving randomly.  I never really liked it because it usually meant getting a cake after everyone was already stuffed with turkey and pumpkin pie.  So, it was always so much better when it at least fell a few days earlier.  My mom always tells the story about my birth that starts with her cooking Thanksgiving dinner.  My dad was off work that day so he was pouring a concrete patio while mom cooked.  Well, when she went into labor he kept telling her that she had to be wrong because I was not due until closer to Christmas.  I guess she finally convinced him because he had to make a seam in the patio and they went to the hospital and I was born right around dinner time.

But, on the topic of aging ... my lifelong friends and I (you met them in a previous post) would sit around and comment that 40 was so old and that we couldn't imagine it.  Well, here we are on the far side of 40 and looking at that age wistfully.  Still, a lot of good things have happened to me in my life ... and, of course, some not-so-great stuff.  I wouldn't trade my age for the alternative.  Its a gift to have longevity and be healthy at this age.  I don't really feel 60 and I'm told I don't look it.  But, then again, what does 60 look like these days?  People are a product of genetics and how well they choose to take care of this body we are given.  So, I do my best to maintain myself.  More importantly, I try to think young.  I try not to become one of those people who turns their nose up at new ideas or whatever it is that younger people are into these days.  Life is a gift and with my Thanksgiving based birthday .... I'm just thankful to be here.

Monday, November 7, 2011

Best Friends Forever


Well, its that time of year again .... gal friend getaway.  These are my besties from childhood.  That's me on the left, Denise in the middle' and Eleanor on the right.  I do not remember a time when these girls weren't in my life.  My parents and Eleanor's parents were friends and neighbors.  They used to stick us in the same crib to sleep while they visited and played cards.  My mom and Denise's mom were in a women's group together and so Denise shows up in pictures from the time we were about three years old.  We've been friends forever and, this weekend we are celebrating sixty (yes 6-0 ) years of friendship.


I know that most people have a lifelong friend or two but, it is rare people for three girls to all be best friends for life ... through the fickleness of junior high and high school, through the years where life took us down different paths and to different cities and states and then, back around to the age we are now.  We had a code that we came up with when we were young ... we never left anyone out deliberately, we never went after a boy one of the others liked (even if said boy didn't know said girl existed ... its the principal) and we never talked maliciously about one another to each other.  It works, trust me.

I feel truly blessed to have these women in my life.  You see, none of us ever had sisters.  Oh, we have a bunch of brothers but, nary a sister in sight.  So, we have become more like sisters than some real sisters. These women are the sisters of my heart and I would do anything for them and I feel that they would do the same for me.  It is a good feeling to have.  We all need those people in our lives.

So, off we go to our annual retreat ... we will probably stay up too late talking, not get nearly as much exercise as we intend to, drink too much wine and, eat too much food.  But, we will also laugh until we cry, dredge up every little stupid thing we ever did, and maybe consult an old yearbook when one of us doesn't remember someone another is talking about.  We have fun, we unwind, we leave life's current situations and problems behind and for a few days, we might as well be 16 again ... just trying to figure out how much we can get away with.  Its all good.