Half a Century

 Just celebrated that fateful birthday and started seriously thinking about what  I have accomplished in my life realizing that I'm  not a young chick anymore but have become a "older wiser" chick. Turning 1/2 century  is a little more nostalgic to me than turning any other O number. I thought that turning 30 was a big deal but I was pregnant with my fourth child, then when I turned 40 I was busy being newly married and trying to keep the kids from going astray-but now I'm 50 and here I sit; the kids are grown and I have a job that I love and that has taken me to a place I never would have dreamed of being.

 As a woman I feel empowered at this time in my life. Feeling that I am entitled to some respect and that I know more stuff and have been through allot in a 1/2 century-its a BIG accomplishment! But....what do I really want to be when I grow up? Have I become "All I can Be?" I know there is lots to go through yet, but it is astonishing to think that all my four kids are over 18 and the baby is 20; the oldest is 30 and I have four grandchildren. 

Even with all the uncertainty;  I am having a blast and now that I'm at this stage of my life I say : "BRING IT ON!" "WHAT IS NEXT!" I'm not as afraid of "what if" anymore; I don't want to regret Not Doing something that I always wanted to do later on in my "golden" years.  Being an Innkeeper is one of the  things I really wanted to do and now I'm actually doing it! This alone has given me courage to know that eventhough I've gone through much turmoil and sometimes dispair it has not diminished the joys that I have received. I lived in one of the most beautiful states for four years and owned and operated a Bed and Breakfast there this is where my husband and I can get old and gray and look up at those majestic West Virginia mountains and say that we had a fun and wonderful life.

 I'm excited, scared and totally awed at what I have done in my life the last 30 years. My only friend of that many years is a few days older than I am, we where talking the other day and neither one of us would have imagined what we were going to become when we were both in college. Then I think of my parents, and turning fifty made me think and contemplate that they have seen and been through so much more and that I really would love to just "BE" with them. Its amazing to me that they brought their family from another country and survived working hard to give me what they thought would be more than they could possibly have. I have the utmost respect for them and that they continue to be the glue to hold this large family together.

What do these young people have that I didn't? Well so much has changed how about information at your fingertips, social networking where you know whats going on instantly and so much more like: Call Waiting, Cell Phones -no better yet the little computer you carry in your pocket to tell you exactly what is going on in the world in seconds. Will the next 25 years bring the Star Trek pin and all you gotta do is hit it and say "Beam me up honey?" That would be something. I am old enough to remember eight tracks, VCRs, no seat belts or even child car seats and knowing that if you did something wrong you where going to get it from your teacher, your principle and finally your parents-so you where afraid instantly. Kids have it so easy these days; I'm sure my parents said the same thing when they turned 50 or 60 and now 70-bless their hearts.

Well all of you that have turned 1/2 century this year-CELEBRATE! We are what we worked so hard to become or we can become what we've always wanted to be. The sky is the limit!

I have enjoyed greatly the second blooming... suddenly you find - at the age of 50, say -

that a whole new life has opened before you.
-- Agatha Christie