Another Milestone: 65

Today I am 65 years old. I’m a mixed bag of emotions at 5:30 a.m. Somehow I remember when my mom turned 30. That was in December of 1970. I was 9. My, oh, my…life has flown by. 

I shouldn’t be so shocked to be this age. I mean, AARP has been beckoning me since I turned 40. Also, in our mid 40’s, Chelle and I both were given senior discounts on our meals at Ryan’s restaurant in Anderson, Indiana. We certainly didn’t ask for it. Little by little the world has been preparing me for this day. Not to mention my body and how it works. Or, doesn’t. 

I mentioned to D the other day how I feel I haven’t done anything in my life. I’m not even sure what done anything actually consists of. 

I haven’t traveled the world. I’ve been to Italy. That’s the furthest I’ve been away from home. I would love to explore Italy more fully. But other than Italy there are only a a couple of places outside of the U.S. I’d like to see with my own eyes. 

My son, Jet, and his family just got home from Switzerland yesterday. It was a dream of mine to visit Switzerland in my 20’s. Jet gave me their itinerary so D and I decided to watch YouTube videos of the places they visited on each day. When I picked Jet and his family up from the airport, we chatted like we had taken the trip together and that was very fun.

I think I’d still like to see Switzerland with my own eyes though. What a fairy tale land. And Ireland too. But other than those three places, I’m good with staying in the U.S. and seeing all of our beautiful wonders here. 

So what does done anything really mean? Well, honestly, I haven’t a clue. 

D came home from work a couple of days after our conversation and he brought my comment again. He said I did a lot. I raised six children. I taught them at home so my days were filled with kids and how important that was. Yes, I agree. 

My babies…

I have set some of my want-to-do’s aside, like…writing, playing the guitar and hammered dulcimer, and jewelry creating, while I work on some personal projects. Those projects consist of downsizing my possessions and painstakingly going through all my pictures and getting rid of the junk photos. This all to make life easier for my kids. You know, for…..later. 

I’ve been learning a lot about myself as I downsize. Not only with the material things I deemed as important, but especially through my pictures. The screenshots I snapped of troubling conversations, food pics, the thousands on top of thousands of duplicates, the massive amount of blurry photos I shot while riding in a car, the meaningless photos of someone else’s cat, or cow, or the fifteen photos of a blue lizard at a zoo, etc., etc., etc. You get the picture. Delete.

But how wonderful it’s been to live again through the changes of my children over the years. Pictures have a way of grounding you. I can feel where I was in every one of them…as if it was yesterday. 

I guess it was just yesterday. 

I agree with D. My life has been full. Full of meaning because of my children. Maybe we didn’t get to do all that other families were doing at the time, like camping and traveling, but with my kids we always had a great time together. And I treasure every moment I’ve had with them. 

One picture I came across was the one below from this past Christmas. None of those shoes would be here it wasn’t for me. I’m not bragging that it was all me, but you know what I’m saying. 

Every pair of shoes represent a very special human who has added so much beauty to this world. I am so very blessed. Truly, I am.

Today, D has taken off work! He never takes a day off. I mean like…NEVER. He wants to make this day special since he says it’s a milestone birthday. I don’t think he realizes that he, himself, is a gift to me. ♥️

So…Hello to 65! 

Welcome to Medicare and some awesome benefits like free admission to fitness centers and the YMCA. Woooohooo!

I love my family and the life we have together…the greatest of all gifts. The blessings of a life well lived. 

♥️

Andi