50 birthday gag gift

Hip-hip hooray for 50

My perceptions about age have changed over time. Fifty once seemed so old.

I remember when my parents each turned 50. I thought it sounded ancient. A half-century, I delighted in reminding them.

With my own 50th birthday recently past, 50 doesn't seem old at all. In many ways, I feel as though I'm just getting a good start on this life.

So many of my first 50 years were spent learning the basics, like how to crawl, then walk, later run. I learned how to talk, sing, and how to play the clarinet and guitar, although neither very well. I learned how to saddle a horse and pull myself up into the saddle without having to find a step, large rock or wall on which to stand.

I also learned how much it hurt, and how humbling it was, when a horse threw you back to the ground. But that helped teach me that sometimes life will throw me to the ground, and the challenge will always be to get back up again.

I learned how to print my name and later to write in cursive, then to type. I've even learned enough about computers to use them for work and pleasure, although they still baffle me and are one of the things which often makes me feel old.

It seems as though I should have also learned something worth sharing in my first 50 years, but as I look back those five decades appear to have been spent in fairly selfish pursuits.

I learned a little bit about love through the years. Just enough to know that love can heal as well as hurt, but it's still worth taking the risk every now and then. And I've learned about hate, which never heals and almost always hurts, usually the hater more than anyone else.

I've been very blessed to have only a little pain in my life. I had a battle with cancer a few years ago but was fortunate to have won that fight.

I've battled my weight my entire life, but am also finally getting that under control. In fact, I turned 50 last week stronger, healthier and in the best physical condition of my life.

In the past 50 years I've learned that after health, family and friends are the most important things in life. Because my family is small, consisting of only my parents and a few cousins scattered around the country, my friends have become my family in many ways.

I struggled for months trying to determine just how I wanted to spend my 50th birthday.

It seemed so significant, especially this year when I have made so many changes that deserve celebrating. I danced around going on a trip, meeting friends from faraway at some exotic spot, having a big party, spending it in quiet contemplation or going to a fancy resort.

All sounded good for awhile, but seemed to lose luster after a few days. Then it finally dawned on me. What I really wanted for this very special birthday was to feel surrounded by a circle of my friends.

And that I am fortunate to be, whether those friends live close by or faraway. I am truly blessed with some of the warmest and most supportive friends anyone could want.

They are fun and funny, often teaching me to laugh at myself. They are encouraging, helping me believe that I can do whatever I most want if I just put my mind and my energy into it.

My friends help call me back when I've wandered a bit far off track, or when I get too selfish and self-absorbed. I appreciate their honesty and I count on them to continue to tell me the truth, even when I may not want to hear it.

Well, as I said, I'm feeling in pretty good form these days, but 50 does seem to be a good time to take stock and to look back.

At 50, I've lived long enough to probably know better, to act more mature, to be more responsible.

I still feel the warm glow of excitement when I walk into a toy store, and I was still hoping for a pony or a new bike this year. I received neither.

What I did receive was the gift of friendship, and a lot of gag gifts having to do with getting old.

All the black humor I was subjected to last week, helped me know that when you're 50 and you bend down to tie your shoelaces you look around for other things you can do while you're down there.

I couldn't help but feel a little old when I realized I have socks older than most high school students, and that I've now lived long enough to see the clothing that I wore in high school make a comeback.

Who would have ever thought bell bottoms and hip huggers would again be considered cool?

Turning 50 hasn't bothered me, because I'm grateful to have lived long enough to be begin my second half-century. But, some things, like hip huggers, should be left in the past.

Honestly, my hips don't look any better being hugged at 50 than they did 30 years ago. It's comforting, though, to know that some things never change.

Lou Ann Thomas is a freelance writer and public speaker. She lives in Jefferson County and may be reached through her Web site at www.louannthomas.com.

Hooray: Celebrating family and friends

See Hooray, page 2