Big 5-0

Well my brother & I pulled off the surprise stunt last night. Our mom turns 50 on the 26th & we managed to organize & execute a surprise bash with her friends. The look on her face when she realized what we’d done was priceless. It is strange to imagine my mom as a 50 year old, when I still remember my own grandparents at that age. When I was little, I thought my grandparents were so old, when in reality they were fairly young. My grandparents on my mother’s side were only 45 & 46 when I was born, and I was the third grandchild.

When I am 50, my children will be 25 & 22, so it is foreseeable that I may be a grandparent at that age as well. It is bizarre to carry out these mental exercises when I haven’t reached 30 yet, but there is something interesting about these milestone birthdays. I’m not necessarily obsessed about my age, but a few people I know seem to be horrified at the thought of getting older. A friend of mine is a few months younger than me and always seems so alarmed at the passage of time. Last year was our ten year high school reunion & she was horrified at the prospect of being that old. I look at the decade past & am amazed that I have done all of the things I’ve done in that time.

Since 1994, I have: met my future husband (September ’94), moved away from home (September 1995), became engaged (May 1997), finished my degree (April 1998), bought a house (October 1998), married my husband (May 1999), had a baby boy (April 2001), built a new house (October 2002), had a baby girl (March 2004) & a bunch of other “stuff”—I won’t bother you with a further litany of events, although there are some noteworthy concerts & my artistic events in there too.

When I’m 50, I can only hope that (a) I’m alive, & (b) I will still have my husband & kids to share it with. Here’s to a few decades more of adventures for all of us.