Racking 'em Up!!

Why is it that we treat aging like a curse? It’s really the best blessing we could be given: Life. I mean, the only alternative to aging is dying. We want to live long, yet we complain about aging. We try to hide our wrinkles and gray hair, when we should be flaunting them. Each gray hair is evidence of days we were given to live – each wrinkle, a scrapbook of our time here.

My Mother (a very wise woman as you who’ve read my blog faithfully have probably gleaned) celebrated every birthday with a humorous amount of enthusiasm. She took the entire month of May as her “birthday month” rather than limiting it to the 24th. She loudly sang what the family now considers “her” birthday song: “Happy Birthday” from the 70’s feminist musical “I’m Getting My Act Together And Taking It On The Road.” She never made attempts to hide her age, or had any desire to. She would talk about how she loved each birthday, and wanted to “rack ‘em up.” I always liked the way she looked at aging, but never really related to it… until now.

Today I am 41. I have a few gray hairs, and have recently started developing crow’s feet. Nothing is quite as “in place” as it was 20 years ago. I have lots of aches, pains and stiffness.  My memory is getting worse, as is my eyesight. I couldn’t be more thrilled. I hope to collect a lot more birthdays, wrinkles, gray hairs, sagging, squinting, and forgetting. I will never again complain about any part of aging. Instead I’ll consider those who never made it to 41. I’m glad I have. I hope to make it to 42, 43, 44…

Embrace the aging process, as it’s also the living process. Be thankful that you have been given more years than many others. And celebrate your birthday for the entire month!

Mom's Birthday Song.


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