The Coming of Age

This has been a full year for me, a crazy twelve months.  From this time in 2010 to now, it seems that parts of me have been torn and scattered across the country.

My mother's final year was one that cut me up inside.  She died April 2011.

Since then, I have been trying to find myself, and reassemble all the pieces that went missing during that year.  While not complete, I believe we are nearly there. 

We’d better get busy on finishing, though, because I have a big, and I mean huge, birthday coming up:  6-0. 

Sixty!  When I was young, people who were sixty were nearing the end of their lives.  Sixty was old, really old.  

 Now?  Look at all the celebrities who sixty and older:

Betty White, 89…Clint Eastwood, 80…Carol Burnett, 78…Sean Connery, 81…Jane Fonda,74…Susan Sarandon, 65…Meryl Streep, 60…Barbara Streisand, 69…  They are still alive, working, affecting society, looking good.   

Well, okay, we can presuppose that there might have been some assistance in the ‘looking good’ department.

The celebrity whose age parallels mine is ELVIRA, Mistress of the Dark!  Yes, she too is 60 years old.  Somehow, this means a lot to me.

Which finally brings this to the real news:  my husband John, daughter Erin, son John4, daughter Mary & husband Richard, and I are having a pre-birthday gathering at this very moment in Washington, DC. 

We are rejoicing, celebrating, hootin’ and hollerin’ about my 60^th birthday.  ( My son-in-law is staying home with Sunshine and Bright Eyes, who will get in on the actual birthday in December.)

But, the point is that the defining factor in one’s life is not the age. 

What is the defining factor?  When I find that one out, I will certainly let you know.  I have a feeling there is more than one involved.