A Cure for the Common Birthday

There is still no cure for the common birthday.  ~John Glenn

November 18th--today's Mom's birthday.  In my mind I'm thinking she's about 42 right now, but then I realize that can't be right because I'm almost 42.  How did that happen?

The key to successful aging is to pay as little attention to it as possible.  ~Judith Regan

I usually don't think of myself as "old."  40 is the new 30, right?  And 60 is the new 40?  My mom certainly doesn't act "old."  She's clever, fashionable and active.  She's still learning new concepts--now she knows how to download pictures from her iPhone.  I don't even have an iPhone.  OK, so maybe her Bridge Club gives her away a little...I don't know why, but "young" people rarely meet weekly to play cards.  That's how I figure she's at least 40.

Old age is fifteen years older than I am.  ~Oliver Wendell Holmes

I still think of myself as 28.  At work several of my co-workers are in their 20's and sometimes I pretend in my head that we're all the same age.  Occasionally I'm reminded that this isn't true.  Like when Abby tells me her new boyfriend was born the same year I graduated from high school.   Or when the girls invite me on a spontaneous shopping trip after work and I decline because I am heading home to job # 2: Mom.

Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional.  ~Chili Davis

Which reminds me...I blinked and my babies became teenagers.  The other day I was looking for a missing belt.  "I've got to clean out this closet--I can't find anything," I'm thinking to myself.  Then I realize Katherine is wearing it.  And so it begins.  Apparently this growing up thing applies to kids too.

In youth the days are short and the years are long;

in old age the years are short and the days long.  ~Nikita Ivanovich Panin

I saw the Skyfall at the theater this weekend.  Age--getting older--was a theme throughout the new James Bond movie.  I checked and Daniel Craig is 44.  And when you see him jump and climb onto a moving train, he doesn't look too shabby.  I think that's why I don't think about calendar age too much--it's more about your mental state of mind.  

You are as young as your faith, as old as your doubt;

as young as your self-confidence, as old as your fear;

as young as your hope, as old as your despair.  ~Douglas MacArthur

Happy Birthday Mom--and many, many more! I wish you another year of faith, self-confidence and hope,  as well as lots of love and laughter.  Oh, and some good wine.  And a few strokes off your golf game. 

Grow old with me!  The best is yet to be.  ~Robert Browning

Three generations of ageless beauty