Hmmm…
I don’t know quite where to begin about this subject.

I guess I could start by saying that mine came and went without much fanfare. I guess I’m happy about that, as I tried as much as I could not to make a great big deal out of it.
I have worried about this milestone birthday ever since I was 16, and what it would feel like to be 50. Well, now I am and I have to say that it doesn’t feel anything in particular. I don’t feel old, I don’t feel young. I’m glad that the life expectancy rate has gotten better with each generation and that our’s seems to be about 80 – although I’m not sure I want to live to be that old.

I feel good. Better than I have for several years. I feel like everything is coming together for me, based on the happenings of this last year, which have been written about in previous blogs. I feel like I have my whole life ahead of me and that things are going to be wonderful!

I do have quite a bit ahead of me. None of my children are married yet – which means no grandkids yet. My husband and I are in better health than we have been in previous years. The unemployment cloud has finally passed on by – for which I am SO grateful. Baseball season is on the horizon – the Giants pitchers report in just 12 days and my son starts practicing this Friday!
I am doing exactly what I have always wanted to do – career-wise, if you can call it a career*. Being immersed in quilting, teaching, designing and doing it my way is a pretty big thing. Being able to be there for my one child that is still in school is another lifetime dream.

I guess you can say that today, I am happy to be alive. I am thankful for the many blessings in my life. I’m thankful to live in a free country and to be able to choose as I wish.

And that’s what I think at age 50. Hmmm…

*My thoughts on careers: All I ever wanted to do was be a Mom. For some, that doesn’t seem very ambitious. Personally, even if I were to find the cure for cancer or the common cold, or were the first woman on the Moon, those accomplishments could never be greater than to give birth to another human being. I mean, everyone is trying to find a way to live forever, stay young, be more beautiful – but what in this life could ever be more meaningful giving Life to another? It’s not about “me-time”, which has become the 21st century catch phrase. It’s about “us-time”.

I digress.

I wanted to be a Mom and raise my kids and be actively involved in their schools, etc. What I did was help support our family when we critically needed it. I have been a bookkeeper, apartment manager, a Training Coordinator, a Technical Support engineer, a Customer Service Rep, a Trainer, a Benefits Administrator, an HR Supervisor, a Telecom Analyst, an ACD Designer, and and Office Manager in the last 25 years; in addition to giving birth to and raising three healthy children.

During the last 25 years, the only career I have had is that of being a Mom. All of my other titles were only “work”, not something that I married myself to. I will always be a Mom. I will never be released from that title. No one will ever fire me from that job; make me obsolete, merge me, take me over in a hostile way, or buy me out. Being a Mom is forever. All the rest is, well, work.