Happy 65th Birthday

Happy 65^th Birthday on July 1, 2017

7/8/2017

   I write birthday letters to my grandchildren, so they will have information of their births and life events when they get older.  I have been thinking of writing about my birth and life events, since I turned 65.  Back in the day, I thought 65 was really, really old!  Now that I am 65, it really is not that old.  There have been times during my life that I felt old.  It really is a mind and body attitude verses a number. 
     When I was in college, I felt so old.  I was a mother of a 5 and 7 year old starting college, taking classes with students so young.  I really did well in college, since I studied and did not party in my old age of mid 30’s.  Then when I taught school, most teachers and paras were also so young, and I was so old.  Some teachers were having babies, and I was having grandchildren.  I really feel old when I work out at the gym.  Today’s Zumba class had the young ones jumping and keeping up with the smiling young instructor, while I danced to my own beat up in the front row.  I can’t see from the back, so I need to be up front in all classes.  I did ask the instructor, “How can you smile during a workout?”  She gave me some crazy answer like, “I enjoy working out. “ I only smile during classes, as I am exiting the gym class while taking out my ear plugs.  Going to a morning gym class, gets me out of bed.  When Pat is working, I don’t have a ride, so I can stay in bed until I hear the garage open, jump up and act like I have been up for hours.  I then hustle to make lunch.

     There are times when I feel young, very young.  We have traveled to Texas the last three years for the winter.  One meets a lot of older young at heart people.  One guy walked 8 miles on his 80^th birthday.  Today I walked in the park behind my house with gives me 3,000 steps and takes about 30 min.  I came home and just wanted to crash and take a nap.  I did not since I saw that the bed was made.  I heard that one should make the bed daily, so you are not tempted to go back to bed.  I always thought it was dumb to make your bed since you would be back in it around 7pm.  I like to get ready for bed fairly early, according to some.  It is my routine, I enjoy having a routine.  The special needs students that I worked with needed a routine, and since my brain disorder, I need routine in my life.

      I feel young when we camp with our camping group, go to camping rallies, and visit nursing homes/retirement homes.  Yesterday I walked up to the retirement home behind our home to visit an 88 year old neighbor that lived across the street when we lived in the Oaks.  I went to happy hour with her.  They played song bingo, drank, and had snacks, while I sat feeling young at 65.  She told me that the neighbors next door to our old house moved back in after living in a nursing home for most of the year.  They are both 95.  The husband hated the nursing home, so if one can live out their final years in a home that they raised their children in, so do it.   When we lived in our old neighborhood, we were surrounded by older folks.  I remember putting the girls to bed, and then going out to sit with the neighbors visiting.  We just don’t do that kind of thing in our neighborhood.  Pat sits in the garage in his rocker, and the walkers going to the park will stop by and visit the 65 year old guy sitting in his rocker.  I will go to the park to walk and end up making a new friend, as I talk and walk with a stranger.

       I am thankful for Pat and me making it to age 65, with our original body parts minus a few losses for me along the way. We take no meds, have no major pains, Pat’s pain is just having to deal with me.  The Lord has blessed us with young and old family members, friends, neighbors, and camping and church friends.  I had planned on writing about my birth, for my grandchildren, but that will have to wait for another time.  It is going on 7pm and my Sat. night routine is to wash and curl my hair for church in the morning.  I had 8,825 today, and I am tired.  Before I turned 65, some days I got 10,000 steps.  I am so feeling my age of 65 tonight.