Happy Birthday To Me!

At least, that’s what Google had for me when I logged on this morning. The “Google” logo all in birthday regalia—just for me.  Ain’t technology great? On a birthday, one is granted license to wax nostalgic and I was going to do that until I realized what birthday this was and I looked back on how I have approached this whole age thing through the years.Does anyone remember Jerry Rubin?? He was a Yippie (you’ll have to Google that) who said, “Never trust anyone over 30.” Remember those days–Vietnam, segregation, etc., etc., etc. That made me think — I remember my 7th birthday, a new bike, I jumped the curb and broke my arm. My 16th birthday, as soon as school was out I had my mom drive me to the fairgrounds so I could take my driver’s test and get my license. My 18th birthday, I registered for the draft and my girlfriend was arrested for shoplifting. My 21st birthday, I was driving my new car, stopped at a light and was smashed from behind by a teenager who wasn’t watching. My 30th birthday….over the hill, celebrated with a pig roast with my fellow OV-10 comrades in the middle of the Texas hill country…and I wondered why people weren’t supposed to trust me. There was a part of me that didn’t think I’d live past 30.  My 60th birthday, my great friend Ted from Alabama unexpectedly came in to help us celebrate. And today, our family is all here. What an awesome journey I’ve had. Certainly not all smiles but certainly never, ever dull.And I’m not done yet. Not even close.