The Finality of Leaving the 50's

Twenty-two days from today (March 10) I will no longer be in my 50s (or is it 50's) . I'm pretty good at grammar but never sure about the apostrophe with a number. Nothing belongs to the 50 so perhaps it should be 50s--my 50s.

My 10s I remember very little of. In fact I have no memories before 1st grade and that is sketchy. I remember skipping a word during reading group because it caught in my throat and the teacher told me the word. I knew the word but it just wouldn't come out. I also remember a little girl wearing pink undies who got a spanking in the classroom (that'd never happen now!!) and recess time being chased by boys and HATING it.

The year I was 10 my parents took my sister Jeanne and I to Southern California to go to Disneyland--which was only 3 years old at that time. We traveled south from Oregon in our little gray Volkswagen. If I correctly remember my parents went with $100 for the trip. That was also the trip I received my first bee sting..while riding in the Volkswagen.

My teen years were traumatic. My mother made me practice the piano daily, get good grades and dust the house once a week. Now don't you think that is just a little too much to ask.

My twenties ended my college life--quitting after 3 years, and then I met the man of my dreams. By the time I was 28 I had 2 children and so I spent the next 18 years raising them. They turned out pretty good if you ask me.

When I was about to hit 40 I thought, "I don't want to be fat and forty."
When I turned 50 I thought, "I don't want to be fat and fifty."
And now that I'm about to be sixty I'm thinking, "I don't want to be fat and sixty."

There was a period of time in my 50s when I got skinny but unfortunately that didn't last. So maybe in my 60s I'll be able to get skinny again. I will admit that my idea of being skinny now is a whole lot different then when I was in my 20s. Then it was weighing in the 130s, now it is the 170s.

Turning 60 means I'm a senior citizen. It means that applying for Social Security is only 2 years away. Turning 60 means I have 30-40 years left to live. Turning 60 means that my life has been blessed by having Jesus in my heart, my being married to Aaron for 37 years, by having a daughter about to turn 35 and having a son who is 31. It means that I have 5 wonderful grandchildren...Karen, Curtis, Sabina, Addison and Emmaleese. Turning 60 means I have good friends who will come to my birthday celebration where my daughter and son-in-law will cook a wonderful meal for us. Turning 60 means I'm alive and so blessed to be healthy.

Hallelujah!! I'm turning SIXTY!!