THE JOYS OF BEING OLD

The reason I haven’t written for a week is not because nothing has happened; in fact, it’s just the opposite. It is quite exhausting to have a birthday and turn 60, I’ve found out. After we got back from the North Shore, we got an offer to pontoon down the Mississippi River on a sunny October Saturday afternoon. That would have been a lovely time all by itself; but at the end of the pontoon ride, there was a surprise 60th birthday party for me with balloons and cake and French champagne and some of my very favorite people! And my birthday wasn’t even for another six days!

Then, because my employer does not have a specific policy about employees getting a week off work when they have a significant milestone of a birthday, I was expected to teach all week—including calculating mid-semester grades for a hundred students and conducting a mid-semester advising day. But finally, Friday arrived—the actual birthday—and there were good wishes from co-workers and 15 birthday cards in the mail at home and two lovely bouquets of flowers to help commemorate the day. And I have been sung to a total of eight times (yes, I counted).I think my birthday is over now. I am officially 60 years and 2 days old. If the next 363 days are as much fun, I think I will like being old.

So I finally got my retirement letter written, my plantar’s fasciitis is much better, the walking trails have been beautiful this fall, and life seems to be good. When I listen on the radio to reports that the economy is falling apart and the world is going to hell in a hand basket, I just want to suggest to people that they live simply and within their means, walk two to four miles a day, go on a trip once in awhile, try to stay positive, give their employers an honest eight-hour day, and take naps when they get tired.

Now that I’m 60, I feel like I should start philosophizing more. Isn’t that what old people do?