Now I Am 60

I am thinking you should do whatever you want, with whomever and wherever you want on your 60th birthday.. The where had to be at Gail’s house. It is one of my favorite places on earth…and I have been to some places.

The whomever was Gail, John and friends.

The whatever was to be low keyed. Good thing because I had been sick for a month and was not feeling any better. A small cookout would be perfect. I enjoy the getting’ ready stuff and I arrived at Gail’s in time to watch her and John working in the yard.

Later, I parked myself on the couch with a cup of tea, a good book and some candlelight. I think most things in life should be done by candlelight. So, my birthday celebration was what I wanted. The following day we enjoyed the morning, a hike behind Gail's house and an unplanned dinner with friends.

Now that the birthday is over...

What I don’t know: how much time I have left. But that is not unique to turning 60. I am no different from anyone else…it has nothing to do with age.

What I do know: 60 is the mark of getting old. But it is the youthful side of old. I have met all the life challenges thrown at me for 60 years and am able to tell my life story. As I consider all those experiences, good and bad, I still say I have had a good life. It has certainly been interesting. I have never been afraid to live life. At times, I have walked out on the most fragile limb to take another bite of life. Things did not always turn out so well for me, but I have no regrets. I never lost the nerve to jump again. I see that as a wonderful thing because it means that the beatings I took did not diminish my desire to keep experiencing life. I have loved a couple of good men and I have had some interesting relationships. I have been abused and let down by a few. But I believe I am still worthy of someone’s love. I still hope. I know there is more good than bad left for me. I look forward to every day. I try to live each day as peacefully and simply as I can. And I still want to dance.

The Royals at the Beach Part II

So much for blogging each day at the beach. My plan was to do nothing but read while lying by the water. I did that. I was also very sick all week. In fact, the day after my first blog posting, I had a serious relapse. Red flags warned us every day not to go in the water.

But that was alright. Our goal was to do nothing. That is what we did. Turns out, when you do nothing all day there really is not anything to write about. I read Water for Elephants, which I was saving for the beach. Liked that. Then I read the book Ellen just finsished: Jodi Picoult's Sing You Home. Loved it. Could not put it down. That is pretty much what I did all week. Oh, I did visit with some friends from St. Thomas who have a place in Orange Beach. Thanks to my friend, Cindy, we had dinner at two wondeful restaurants. I was grateful for that because the food experience was not anything to write home about. I am not even going to show you my food photo. You would not forgive me if I did. Instead, I offer you this photo of Ellen expressing her opinion of dinner one night.

I admit the food on the whole was not very good. I did not feel much like eating anyway. And being so sick all week was not what one wishes for while on vacation. Still, I cannot complain. I got to read two good books while at the ocean with a good friend. I really did do exactly what I went there to do.