Yay Me!

I was born a poor, black child...

Steve Martin starts his "autobiography" in "The Jerk" with this line... I still use it to get a laugh every once and awhile.

Today is my birthday. I turned 46: " the downside of my Forties", as my sister puts it. I feel like I am floating on the timeline of my life, kinda not an old person, not a youngin' no mo'. Hello perimenopause, goodbye youth. Did the computer at AARP blip my name at 12:01EST?

I have a friend who did not turn 50 well. I was 40 at the time and truly scared to watch her go through her harrowing experience. Shes not fond of the label "glamorous", but we all think she is just that. She worked through this long hard journey and has emerged not only glamorous, but proud and beautiful. I actually aspire to age that gracefully.

I spent last night at a concert in the Kennesaw Mountains with throngs of young people. Tall, short, fat, ugly, beautiful, black, white.... Self esteem and self expression seems so much easier for these young people these days. (Sorry. There really was no other way to express that thought but to use "these days"). Their parents weren't there, so the few older people that were really got to just sit around and watch. Alcohol did wash away a few inhibitions (or quite a few) but for the most part, there was such a wide acceptance of what was OK, I was really proud of these kids (again, sorry for the geriatric vernacular!).

There will always teenage/young person/46 year old angst to be had. Unfathomable to us old folks, social media and technology adds an entire other layer to teenage angst. Bullying, hazing, peacocking, and mean girls will always abound. "Its a normal part of life" is really a pathetic turd of reasoning.

Aging doesn't suck as much as I thought it would. I don't mind all those years behind me. I look forward to the years ahead of me. I've earned my stripes. I like my stripes, my wrinkles. I like the ever-evolving me. Its really quite exciting to think I will have left a small memorable mark on the world: a legacy, two great human beings I helped create, an imprint somewhere.

Yay me! Happy Birthday to me!