60….OH MY GOSH!

Well how on earth has this happened, could someone please explain to me how I got to be this age!! Did I blink? or fall asleep and wake up 60 years later. My mum was 60 once but me….no I cant be. YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS! What, sorry, did you say its my birthday tomorrow, my 60th …OH! OH! HELP!

60 It sounds old to me. Do I feel old? Do I look old? well I certainly feel older and i can see that I look older, although I can still smile at myself in the mirror. I surely must be wiser and I think maybe I feel that I am, but on the other hand so much of me feels the same that I just don’t seem to be able to correlate the sound of the number 60 with myself. One reason I know that I am 60 is that I have heard whisperings among the family ranks. Not whisperings of a surprise party (thankfully), I think they know me better than that, but whisperings none the less. What are they up tooI I wonder?

I will be waking up in the morning to an array of cards….well 4 so far and I plan to follow my usual routine of a cup of tea in bed as I adjust to the morning, followed a bit later by coffee and pancakes. I mustn’t eat too much as I have the feeling that whatever is afoot tomorrow for this 60 year old will involve food of some kind, but I missed pancake day this year and feel the need for a taste at least, with blueberries I think, yummy. I have to be at a certain place by 2pm which gives this Mum and Nonna plenty of time to enjoy her morning and try and reconcile herself with this new numerical label.

Free prescriptions! That really makes me feel OLD, but at least no bus pass yet Phew! I have to be thankful for small mercies although I guess free bus travel could be fun. But for now I’m happy to keep jumping in my Beetle (Daisy) even if I jump then groan at the fact that jumping into Daisy seems to be getting harder.

There must be some good things about reaching 60….hmmm!

1: I have reached 60 what an achievement and I’m still pretty healthy. I am thankful that I have made it to this age as ‘that privilege’ is taken from so many…often way to young.

2: Im a Nonna. That brings me constant happiness, chuckles and joy. Those three little gems were not even a thought when I was 50 but now here they are, and I cant imagine life without them. Arlo, Olive and Sebbie and the family expands and grows.

3: Im the Author of ‘A Christmouse Tale’. I was brought up being told that ‘Pride came before a fall” and never found it easy to feel proud of myself but I am happy to say that I feel VERY PROUD of myself for having achieved what I set out to do at the beginning of last year and ‘A Christmouse Tale’ is now available on Etsy.

4: I went on a plane for the first time in 20 Years, and I watched out of the window as we were landing. This was major for me as from a young girl I have always had a huge fear of flying.

5: I feel happier in my own company. Maybe I have finally begun to love and like myself. Im really quite nice and have even started enjoying conversations with myself….oops that could be a bad sign! but I dont think so.

6: I have more time to appreciate the beauty of the world around me and I have found a renewed love of the countryside and find pleasure in each changing season.

So, maybe 60 is not such a bad thing after all. Life and we humans are constantly changing. We cant get away from it and I guess the skill is in learning to accept the changes rather than fighting them. And change is a good thing is it not.

‘Each change is a turning page. It is about closing one chapter and opening another one. Changes bring new beginnings and excitement to life.’

So tomorrow as I wake up to a new day, I will also be waking up to the dawning of a new decade of my life, my 60’s. I hope that it will be filled with joys, maybe more grandchildren or another book who knows, but for now I think I just have a Birthday surprise to look forward too.

Love Alison x