BIRTHDAYS

I have grown old, but never lost life's zest, Because the road's last turns can be the best.

Yesterday was my birthday. It was a glorious day. A day spent with daughters at a lunch at Kristy's business open house. A movie matinee with Joyce and then dinner at home. This morning, breakfast with Joyce and the four daughters and a great (wanted) gift of a new iPad. This Sunday, the entire family, all 29 of us, coming to the house for a family dinner. Even little Jack Dibblee is coming from Olympia, Washington. He's 2 months old so it will be the first time most of the family have ever greeted him.

Some people complain about birthdays. No me. I want to have many more. To stop celebrating birthdays will not stop the clock. You will not keep you young to ignore the day.

MORE THOUGHTS ON AGING (See 8/13; 9/8; 9/12)

I am so blessed to have lived long enough to have my hair turn grey, and to have my youthful laughs forever etched into deep grooves on my face. So many have laughed, and so many have died before their hair could turn to silver.

As you get older, it's easier to be positive. You care less what other people think. I don't question myself anymore. I've earned the right to be wrong.

I know I sometimes forget things. but then again, some of life is just as well forgotten. I am convinced that everyone forgets things at every age but as we get older, we worry about forgetting. I remember important things.

Sure over the years my heart has been broken. How can your heart not break when you lose a loved one, or when a child suffers, or even when your little dog gets sick? But broken hearts are what gives us strength and understanding and compassion. A heart never broken is pristine and sterile and will never know the joy of being imperfect.