The Big 5-Oh

Three weeks from today, I turn fifty. The big 5-oh. Five year away from being eligible to live in senior housing. The half century mark.  UGH!!  Look, I know that turning 50 is WAY better than the alternative, but there's just something about that number. 50...

I was 12 when my dad turned 50 and 16 when my mom turned 50. I don't remember thinking that they were "really old" at 50. At those ages, I thought anyone over 21 was old.

I've been trying to remember what age my parents were when I thought they were finally old.  But everything with age is relative and I was 22 when my dad turned 60 - one year past my former old guideline. 

I have a wonderful friend who is 14 years my junior. We met when I was 28 and she was 14 and we have been friends ever since. Our birthdays are four days apart, so Jessie turned 16 just four days before I turned 30. That day, she and another young friend decorated my office in black streamers. 

In 2004, Jessie turned 30 herself and called me to apologize. She confessed that on my 30th birthday, she thought 30 was REALLY old, but now that she's 30, she realized how wrong she was. It's all relative. 

My geeky side has found an odd way of coping. I've started referring to March 22nd as the launch of version 5.0 - just like software. Because you know that each new version provides a better product. And that's what I am - a better version of who I was at 40, who I was at 30 and most definitely who I was when I was 20.