The Big Five-0

Today is my 50th birthday. It's kind of shocking, really. I remember when I was maybe ten or twelve years old chatting with friends about the year 2000. We all reasonably assumed we'd be alive to see it, but that we'd be quite aged--most of us turned 41 that year. Fifty was simply beyond our comprehension.

I tend to compare myself each year with how I remember my parents at the same age. One thing that makes that difficult is that my folks, like many in their generation, had kids earlier than we did. So when my day was 50, I was 25. My girls are 15 and 14--growing up for sure, but still kids in most ways. This is one reason being 50 feels really different than I thought it would.

So having kids who are still kids keeps me feeling young, and having worked around so many people younger than I am does too. So there is not a lot of anxiety about being 50. And one great thing about "middle age" is that I can legitimately claim to have learned some things about life AND I'm still young enough to make changes and act on the things I've learned. That's a real blessing.