Saturday, May 18, 2019

Turning 60

It was my milestone birthday on Tuesday. 
I've done a lot of reflecting the last few weeks. 
I don't know about you but I have goals for each decade. When we were first married, Bill wanted us to have goals for 1, 5, and 10 years out. We typically had these conversations on our anniversary but that was a little too much pressure for me. We were parents after a year and a half of marriage and at that time my only goal was sleep. 


He wasn't wrong to try to come up with goals.


When I was working, I had goals for the new school year and I have goals when it comes to my milestone birthdays. 
I was pregnant with my third child on my 30th birthday.
Where did the time go?


I wasn't thrilled about turning 40 as my part time job had just disappeared. 
 At the time, college for my kids was looming and my teaching certificate had expired.
Would I stay home full time with my teens, find another part time job or go back to work full time? 
  I created another two day a week job for myself at my same school so it all that worked out.
We had teens graduating from H.S. and proceeding with their paths into adulthood.


Turning 50 was fun. We had a fun party out at my brother's ranch. We celebrated graduations and my birthday. New baby calves were born seemingly for our honor.


The kids were leaving the nest and we thought it would be the decade of weddings and grandchildren. I don't know about you but Bill and I dreamed about having grandchildren. 
It turns out that that is totally out of our control. Haha.  
Let me be clear, this is in no way a passive aggressive post in order to dump guilt on my children.
We've already had this conversation with them but we're coming to the realization that we might not be grandparents and that our "golden years" don't look like we thought. 
It reaffirms that notion that our futures are never in our control.


"As you do not know the path of the wind or how the body is formed in the mother's womb, so you cannot understand the work of God."
Ecclesiastes 11:5
We need to adjust our goals and the vision we will have for our future.

In addition, there are a few things about aging that no one told me. 

My body is like the Tin Man's in the morning. I just need a can of oil by the side of the bed to get moving.


What happened to some of the hair follicles in my eyebrows? The hair isn't white.
It's just gone. 
I think I the hair has migrated to my nose.
Do vein clinics really work? 
I've spent the last few days feeling old and thinking about the things that didn't work out.



This morning, during my walk, I began to give thanks for the things that did happen during the last decade.


First of all, my husband was very sick for the first half of the past decade. He was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes in 2010. He fought and fought for 5 years and he was clocking through every oral medicine. In 2016 he was properly diagnosed with Type 1 and he was put on insulin.
We had walked though our "in sickness and in health" period and for the last four years, he is living again.


Secondly, we were in a serious friendship drought during our 50th decade. 
No one mentioned that your friends list changes when the kids leave the nest. A lot of our friends were from church or the kid's school. We left our church around the same time that our children were flying the coop.


We were empty nesters with no one to hang out with. 
That has changed. We've reconnected with our very good friends and they brought their friends to the circle. My brother and his wife joined our group for birthday dinners. They connected and now we are all traveling to Italy together. I'm so grateful for good friends.
We are blessed that we are able to travel and see some amazing sights.


The dog and I have started walking again to combat the aches and pains and I'll fill in the missing eyebrows with pencil. I'll let you know if I visit the vein clinic.
We may adopt some grandchildren or find a way to fill that time in a meaningful way.
I saw a quote the other day that sums it up perfectly.
"Sometimes you have to let go of the picture of what you thought life would be like and learn to find joy in the story you are actually living."

I'm a few days into the next decade.
If it is like the previous three, it will fly by.
There is a party tonight with some family and friends to celebrate this milestone.
It's not a secret but Bill has kept the details secret.
I hope to get some pictures tonight to share with you.
Have a blessed weekend.
Katie

Sunday: Life and Linda, Lou Lou Girls, Snickerdoodle Sunday, Sundays at Home Silver Pennies Sunday, Bluesky at Home, The Fabulous Party

Monday: Our Home Away From Home, Stone Cottage Adventures, Dwellings The Heart Of Your Home, Oh My Heartisie Girl, A Stroll Thru Life, Inspire Me Monday, Busy Monday, Amaze Me Monday, Over the Moon Linky Party, Creative Mondays, You Are The Star Blog Hop, Metamorphosis Monday, Heart and Soul Link Up, Project Inspired Weekly Link Party, Celebrate and Decorate, Make It Pretty Monday, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia

Tuesday: Mike and Jan Show, Tuesdays at Our Home, Let's Party, Tuesdays With A Twist, Reader Tip Tuesday Party, Let's Add Sprinkles, Talk Of The Town

Wednesday: Beautifully Made Linky Party, Fluster's Creative Muster Wednesdays, Ducks In A Row, DIY by Design, Reviews, Chews and How Tos, Simple Nature Decor, Waste Not Wednesday

Thursday: A Day Of Small Things, Vintage Charm, Home and Garden Party Thursday, Inspired Creations, Thursday Favorite Things Blog Hop, Imparting Grace, The Homemaking Party, French Country Cottage

Friday: Friday Features Linky Party, Funtastic FRiday, Friday Favorites, Home matter Linky Party, Flaunt It Fridays, Sweet Inspriations Link Party, Health and Home B4 and Afters

Saturday: Saturday Sparks, Pink Saturday, Anything Goes

9 comments :

  1. I have the same milestone birthday coming up at the end of June. I have a lot of thoughts as well, so I enjoyed reading yours. Happy Birthday!

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  2. Happy Birthday! The aches and pains that go along with aging tend to slow us all down. It pays to be vigilant concerning your health and well-being. So glad Bill is on the proper medication. Hope your weekend is a blast! Looking forward to pictures...

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  3. Katie,
    I really enjoyed this post but I do have to admit that I chuckled when I read that you just wanted to sleep and your hubby wanted to set goals...It was the opposite with us..I had goals and Joe was just bopping from day to day and he is still doing that!! LOL!! I owned a house and was married at 20. I only ever wanted 2 children and since i wanted to be a young Mother after being raised by older parents, I had my 2 sons by the age of 25. Joe worked in factories for the first 20 years of our marriage and we lived through lay offs and shut downs so I took it upon myself to be the major bread winner, working full time night shift because I could make double what Joe made and have better health care benefits for my family. The birthday that was the most traumatic in my life was my 30th. My Dad had just passed away , My Mom sold my childhood home and every tradition in my life was gone. I had to totally rethink our lives and re-do all our family Holiday traditions. My 30's were filled with running my sons all over the place while working full time nights. In my 40's, my health plummeted and I ended up having 3 surgeries in 3 years. I was diagnosed with auto immune disease which caused arthritic pain, heat and sun sensitivity and a large weight gain. Joe started to work at the Post Office and life as we knew it changed again. He only got a full weekend off every 6 weeks and for the first 6 years at the Post Office, he could not refuse overtime so that was the end of the weekend trips and vacations we took with the boys. The boys were in their late teens then and Joe was never home so I was forced to take a Weekender program at work where I was off all week but worked 36 hours over EVERY Friday, Saturday and Sunday so someone could be home with the boys.When Joe was able to take a regular route and was not forced to work over time, I went back to a regular schedule. By then the boys had graduated high school gone to college and were working but still living at home. Both of our sons moved out with in a few months of every other and I was finally able to re-do their rooms into the rooms that I had envisioned for years. We then turned our focus on planning for early retirement, working with a financial planner. At this point, I too figured that we would never be grandparents but we were good with that. Then everything changed this past Sept. when my youngest son's live in girlfriend of 10 years won the Lottery. Next thing , they were getting married, moving into a larger townhouse rental and announced that she was pregnant. I was worried though because she is 37 years old and that is considered high risk. Unfortunately, she lost the baby at 8 weeks. They do plan on trying again so grandchildren still may be in our future. I am 61 and after 40 years, my department at work closed suddenly last Nov. I was forced to work on another department that I was not familiar with and forced to "float" to the main hospital. Then my knee suddenly got worse and I had to schedule my knee replacement surgery. So in my early 60's, I have decided to not return to working in an extremely stressful situation even though I will not be 62 until Jan. I am looking forward to just enjoying life and the simple things and my time being my own once I recover from this surgery.Life has thrown me many curves but what does not kill you makes you stronger so I am content to sit back and enjoy the ride!!
    Hugs,
    Deb

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  4. Katie, I can't believe that you are 60! You really do look younger. Happy Birthday. I've got a few years on you and starting to feel it but the alternative would not be worth it, so keep enjoying life, and riding out the rough spots. I believe that contentment is what keeps us moving ahead..Happy Weekend..Judy

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  5. My motto at 70 is "The world turns/changes and you have to turn/change with it".

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  6. Katie,
    I understand many of the things you wrote about here.
    Sounds as if, in the end, the important things are working out well.
    Welcome to the 60's, you're going to "Like" it here!
    Pat

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  7. Love hearing your thoughts on turning 60. It was a really hard one for me, but mostly because my health this last several years has been so crumby. I'm so glad your husband was finally diagnosed correctly and is now doing so well. Health is the main thing I've learned, not the number of years. I'm in the same boat as you concerning grandkids, or lack of them. I'm okay with it, both our girls are getting older, but I'm concerned for them not having the joy of children. It's so great that you can travel, my health has been and obstacle, and my husband's demanding job. I'm afraid to fly because of being prone to blood clots, so it will have to be on wheels, ha. So glad you've had a great birthday, thanks for sharing it with us. xo

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  8. Happy Birthday, Katie! I sure hear you...this aging thing is full of all kinds of adventures!

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  9. I adore your very, very insightful thoughts, Katie. Yes, the aging thing has its pluses and minuses but for the most part, there's a lot of good, a lot of ease with it. Here's to a wonderful new decade. Happy Birthday!

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