Scribblings

Today is My Birthday

"Every birthday, you decide whether to mark it the end of your greatest days or the beginning of your finest hour." --Oprah Winfrey

Today is my birthday and I am 49 years old. I was joking with TB this morning about how I became a year older overnight but didn?t feel any different. He kidded back that it was only yesterday that I was 48. To me, kidding around is a big part of celebrating birthdays.

Some people don?t like to celebrate their birthdays because they don?t want to be reminded that they are getting older. I don?t mean young kids and young adults. They seem to look forward to birthdays. I mean people who are around my age. I?ve heard some say, ?I am over the hill? or ?I?m getting old!? or ?I?m half a century old! Half a century!?

I got a note from Oma today and I felt sad for her. She thanked us for the floral arrangement we sent for her birthday. She lamented the fact that she is slowing down and tiring easily. She becomes tired after putting her clothes on and becomes impatient with herself. She notices that she is sleeping more and more. I felt sad for her because she sounded so dispirited. She?s 93 years old now and it seems that she is beginning to give up. Up until then, her life was full and she was resigned to birthdays as she entered her 90s.

There?s a difference between feeling old at 93 and feeling old at 50. Fifty is notover-the-hill unless you let yourself feel dragged down. I think that Oprah Winfrey was right when she said that every year a person decides whether this birthday is the closing years of life or the beginning of new adventures.

It?s funny, I don?t think I really did appreciate my birthdays fully until after I got married and had kids. The best gift of all is to have my family around me: TB, the memory of Rich, the kids. Gifts and cake are nice but definitely don?t make the day most special. This year, I loved the cake TB had decorated for me at the store and the faces of my family around me.

I don?t want to ever feel like I?m too old or finished ? not while I?m this young anyway. I have aches and pains I didn?t have before but I noticed that once I began walking on the treadmill I began to feel better, emotionally and physically. I have found something to enjoy about each 10 years of my life. I am sure that as I move through my 50s I will find many things to enjoy and appreciate.