Thoughts
on turning 60
Another milestone has arrived!
I will be 60 years old tomorrow! There isn’t a whole lot of anything planned to
commemorate the occasion, I’ll take the day off, maybe ride my bike through the
woods, eat something completely decadent just for kicks and giggles and
probably do some reflecting on where I’ve been, where I am and a few minutes on
where to go from here.
Thinking back on things, there
are not a lot of birthdays that made an indelible impact on me, I remember one,
I think I was turning 4 or 5, we lived in Florida and my Aunt Linda was waiting
at our house when we arrived home. It was dark and my mother was surprised to
see her and my cousins waiting when we arrived. She brought a cake and presents
for me; my first birthday party. There were not many of them so maybe that’s
why this one stayed in my memory. I don’t think I ever thanked her for that so,
Aunt Linda, if you are reading this, Thank you! It was a shining moment in the
life of clueless time traveler that I have become!
I had a couple in West
Virginia, I think 7 and 9. 7 I was really sick and 9 my grandfather was in the
hospital.
13 was memorable because my
Dad came home with a brand new 10 speed bike! I was king of the world for a
day! Shiny chrome fenders and skinny tires! He brought my brother one home a
couple days later. I rode that thing to death! I only wish I had known then
that a guy could actually make a living riding a bicycle, my life would have
been just a shade different; instead I decided to start smoking.
Oh 15 was something! You get
your learners permit and discover girls! You long for a car of your own and a
girlfriend; both of which have been very unkind to me at various times, yet
it’s one of those things that you just can’t do without!
I bought my first legal beer
at 12:00 AM, August 9th 1976. Yep, I presented my ID to the clerk
and smiled! Good times!
21 was a brand new truck! I
spent the next 18 months trying to pay it down to where I could sell it. One of
those teachable moments you hear about. Just because you can buy it, doesn’t
mean you should! Same goes for drinking and a few other things in life.
After 25, when your car
insurance rates go down, things get
fuzzy. I spent my 50th in the ER with a kidney stone.
I think you come of age in
your 20’s, hit your stride in your 30’s, make your mark in your 40’s and 50’s
then finish the rat race and start living in your 60’s. That kind of sucks
because what I did 5 years ago seems to make me hurt in lot’s of places that
did used to hurt at all!
No matter, I made it this far
when a lot of people that I knew are now fermenting in Greenlawn. I have no
desire to join them anytime soon; but only God determines that. If the sun
rises on me tomorrow, I will have reached an age that, to be completely honest,
I have never seriously given any thought to! But here it is and so am I! Wow,
if I look back on the world and see what was and what it is now, it kind of
boggles your mind. We had 3 channels, rotary phones, no microwaves, video
recorders, air bags, anti lock brakes or unleaded gas! Rode in the back of a
station wagon facing the car behind without seat belts and drive thrus didn’t
exist. You learned to read and write, add, substrate, multiply and divide in
the first grade. Learned cursive by the 3rd and you did not talk
back to teachers! You got your school clothes in August and you changed into
your play clothes when you got home from school. You either rode your bike, the
bus or walked to school. We started the day with the Pledge of Allegiance and
in 1960’s Florida, we actually had nuclear blast drills! Duck and cover!
Life was simple being a child
then, and I intend to spend what remains of mine making it simple once again. I
loved roaming the woods, fishing and hunting back then and I am in the process
of rediscovering that pleasure once again. I don’t need a new car, big house or
much of anything to be honest. I have my tools, my hands and a God given talent
for fixing and building things. I spent too many years chasing gold and now
it’s time to start relaxing. Notice the word relaxing, not quit. I will
probably never stop working because I love what I do. Now, I can pick and
choose for whom I do it and that makes all the difference to me.
So Happy Birthday to me! Enjoy
it Johnny, you have it made! Actually you always have, you just didn’t always
realize it!
