Thursday, April 30, 2009

teetering on the brink

The most recent picture of me taken last December.  I’m on the left in blue.


Today is my birthday and I am 59 years old.  I am on the edge of a whole new decade, a whole new series of numbers.  Mortality is waving at me.  I see it there at the back of the crowd and I am slowly making my way over to it.  I’m doing OK for almost 60.  Life doesn’t seem very much different than a decade ago.  I’m tired of doing certain things, I’m tired of the process of making a living sometimes but then I was tired of those things a decade ago.  Back when I entered the 50s, I was still doing the river guide thing.  I don’t do that anymore but I’ve been pretty consistent about going to the gym for the last 6 years.  My hair is still dark and I don’t color it.  You have to look close to see the  strands of gray.  This was, apparently, the line I was standing in when attractive physical attributes were being handed out.


I was at the gym earlier in the week, talking to two of the friends I have made there who work out in the same time slot, two guys who I figured were about 8 - 10 years younger than me.  We joke around a lot.  When I told them it was my birthday in a few days one of them looked at me straight faced and guessed 49?  I must have given him an incredulous look because his subsequent guesses went lower till he finally sputtered out. ‘Did I guess terribly wrong?’, he asked.  ‘Try 59’, I told him.  ‘You’re hot!’, he says, ‘59, you look great.’  I struck a pose.  He says, ‘you need a T-shirt.’  The other one says, ‘Fine at 59.’  I’ll take it.  


Fine at 59.

12 comments:

  1. Happy birthday! You ARE hot ... gorgeous, you are.

    As for mortality, it's always on the other side of the room, waving. Some of us live longer than others, but no one lives forever.

    Sounds to me as if you're doing a fine job of living well. I salute you!

    Hope you celebrate, eat cake, make a wish. Yeah!!

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  2. Thanks Reya. I've had a good day. I even got a couple of presents. My birthday is always a personal day off.

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  3. Happy Birthday Ellen. I'm right behind you girl and I am envious. My profile pic is 20 years old....no guts, you get the glory. I will get real, maybe. Fun stuff to read, thanks.

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  4. You look terrific! I would never have guessed 59. Happy Happy Birthday!

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  5. Happy Birthday! My wish for you is to be healthy always and happy. Good to know you still have the power to do physical exercises.take care!

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  6. Thank you ladies.

    And welcome Verily, hopefully, the fun is just beginning.

    When my mother turned 60, she decided she was old and then, she became old. A lesson for me, for us all. Think young!

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  7. Happy birthday for yesterday. You do look younger, I wouldn't have said 59 either. Hope you had a great day.

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  8. Even if I'm a day late, Happy Birthday Ellen! I too will be fifty-nine this year so I congratulate and will emulate your outlook on this auspicious occasion! June is coming for me!

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  9. Thank you Madame and Joy. It's been an excellent birthday, especially with all my new blogger friends.

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  10. Wow, now how fabulous was THAT?

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  11. Yeah, it made my day. Hell, it made my week!

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  12. You look marvelous! I would have guessed much younger, too. Every year I wait to feel older and it doesn't seem to happen.......

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I opened my big mouth, now it's your turn.