Alive and kicking!

Carmen, Age 70

I turned 70 this week. A male good friend just introduced me to your site. Interesting and supportive.
I’m a grandma and a mother of 3, a spouse of 1, a special friend of 12, a friend of hundreds, an aunt, a cousin, a college professor, a community teacher, a colleague, all in that order. And that is my everlasting gift! I’m busy with not a moment to spare but I still do the impossible, share all my time with lots of people daily. I care about politics, government issues at home, in the U.S., abroad, love to travel, like good food, good people, good times, good weather. Some of these things are free, others costly, one chooses. All this makes me alive and kicking!

But, the day before my big birthday 4 days ago, I had a crisis. I didn’t want to see or hear of anyone on my big day, nor did I want to burn any candles. I sent an email to my 12 most important people asking them not to notice me the following day. I was not going to be in the mood. I knew they were ready to celebrate my b-day, but I said I didn’t want any mentioning of my birthday. I shocked everyone with my out of character request and my negative and bitter message.

But 18 hours later, I brushed my email off and I rebounced. My middle son lectured me on my email, rightly so; a friend said to me in a reprimanding email that I should be happy to be 70 and what was this nonsense of a ‘crisis’, I should stop being silly. Little by little I became myself once more and laughed a lot on my Birthday.

A friend just told me, what I wanted to forget had the opposite effect, we will all remember my 70th birthday with this anecdote and the tantrum I threw. Honestly, I feel the same at 70 and 4 days- smart, witty, funny, courageous, picky, curious, crazy, etc. Life is a present, at 1, 64 or 90,♪♫•* just Let it Be, Let it Be ♪♫•*. Enjoy the ride, we have only one ticket!