Hello 50

So I had a birthday last week.

A big one.

I joined a club with some other cool people I know.  Yeah, yeah I turned 50.

When I was a kid, 50 was OLD.  Ancient!  When I was a kid, a 50 year old walked with the dinosaurs.  As a recently minted 50 year old, the only dinosaurs I have walked with are animatronic.

Let me tell the kids of the world, 50 years goes by in the blink of an eye.

In 50 years I have...

moved more than 6 times
learned French
fallen in love more than once
fallen out of love  more than once
fallen on ice more than once
played on monkey bars
yep, I have fallen off of monkey bars too!
worked in a bakery
eaten a raw oyster (ick)
shoveled snow
driven in snow
cursed at the snow
traveled to 33 states
driven a hot rod
bowled over 200
traveled to Europe
traveled to Mexico
traveled to the Caribbean
laughed and cried...sometimes at the same time
walked on beaches, been to the mountains
been terrified to fly and have done it anyway
been on a plane that executed a successful emergency landing (see above)
managed people
managed expectations
managed my expectations of certain people
sang in the shower
sang in the rain
sang out of tune
sang in front of a crowd
bought a car
bought a house
bought lots of shoes
broken a finger
broken a heart...maybe more than one
paid a toll for the driver behind me
smiled at a stranger
volunteered at a soup kitchen
dyed my hair
lost my hair
learned to type
learned to use a PC, brick phone, Blackberry, smart phone, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and am still fairly technologically illiterate
gotten married...twice.  Sometimes you have to foul one off to get it right.
witnessed local sports teams win 2 World Series, 3 Stanley Cups, 6 NBA titles and 1 Super Bowl
been to a few NASCAR races
been sunburned
learned to drive
learned to parallel park
won a fantasy football league
watched people blast off into space and cried when not all of them returned
been to concerts too numerous to chat about here
lost a few loved ones
found many many friends
had cancer
kicked cancer's ass and have the scars to prove it
been grateful
been angry
been lonely but never alone
never given up


So I have been busy it seems.  It's interesting looking back at 50 trips around the sun.  People are saying these days that 50 is the new 40.  Whatever.

50 is 50.  Some days I feel old.  Most days I don't.  I have some gray hair...only my hairdresser knows how much.  I think I am wiser than years ago.  Although, I still occasionally do stupid stuff.

A few years ago, turning 50 wasn't a given so let's just say, I am damn glad to be here.