GETTING TO 90

There are speed limits for all motorized vehicles. From automobiles to rocket ships to ships at sea, when the meter reads 90 it means slow down!  Not so for people.  In retrospect, ninety year old people are vibrant and enjoying life albeit differently from earlier years.

When I reached my fiftieth birthday I held my own celebration because I had reached the half-century mark.  I did so in a small, screened porch in my home in suburban Philadelphia. I could not envision going from 1929 to 2019 but here I am! I am not much for giving clinical or "how to" advice but I share with you now those events and people who have nurtured me all this time.

 I was about one year old when my mother told me she was going to have a baby. Then mother disappeared. The most vivid memory I have was when my father told me he would take me to see mother, and my baby sister. We were not allowed in the hospital, but my father lifted me up on his shoulder and pointed to a corner window.  When I looked up I saw my mother holding my sister and waving at me.  My sister and I are just 16 months apart.  To this day, when I pass the site of the hospital, I remember the excitement of that day.  Then 10 years later my brother was born. Mother told us we now have a little baby of our own.  Since then my siblings and I have been close regardless of where life has taken us.

I had the good fortune of being born into a warm extended family of  grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins by the dozens. Mine is a family whose members are both ordinary and extraordinary.  My clan includes high achievers and some who have not met with success.  As a family we are well educated.  Some have opted for a life of labor and study, while others have become recognized nationally and internationally for their work in the arts, music and medicine.  Some of us have stood in unemployment lines as we sought work, and some have been denied work for reasons of hatred and bigotry.

All of this is recounted now, dear reader, as I mark a very big birthday.  The attempt  to put together a list of people who have influenced me over the years is worthy of a book.  Each person from food servers to cooks, to maintenance people, to considerate care givers all have enriched my life by the way in which they have shared their own with me. From my two sons and their families and to my two grandchildren and their friends and my own.  And to my companion and his family,  I thank you
for becoming a part of my life.  May each of you know the joy of kindness and respect as you reach the age of 90.

Keep well and keep in touch.  Beverly