Some Thoughts on Turning 60

Most of the time, I fervently subscribe to the notion that age is merely a number. I paused at fifty, though, since reaching the half-century milestone was worthy of pause and reflection.Here I am at sixty and am taking the time once more to see where I am.As the joke goes, at least I have my health. My doctor, dentist, and optometrist all seem content with my current condition. Yeah, there’s the occasional ache and sleeping through the night is a distant memory, but that’s just the way things go.My career is not at all what I anticipated when I graduated college in 1980 or when I boldly took the plunge and left the DC Comics cocoon in 2000 or tried to be a fulltime freelance writer in 2007. There have been wonderful opportunities but increasingly more missed ones for any number of reasons.Still, I am gainfully employed and still have writing and editing opportunities so that’s something, too. I truly enjoy working with the kids in the classroom and find myself looking forward to returning to Journalism, hopefully with an eager bunch of budding reporters.What’s interesting is to note that increasingly, my peers are all talking about retirement, those who can and those who can’t. It’s suddenly on the horizon, more distant for me than others, but it’s a sobering notion.The previous generations are dwindling. We see that as the celebrities we grew up with retire or pass away. Deb and I are seeing that with our mothers and extended family. The notion that we’ll be the elder generation is certainly a new one and thankfully, that’s still some time off as the last member of the previous generation is just thirteen years older than I am.The idea that there’s a finite amount of time left is becoming more and more real and I see it influencing my choices. I find I am far more selective about what I watch and read, more willing to drop something that no longer holds my interest. The same thinking is seeping into my freelance choices. Is the project truly engaging me and worth the time and effort compared with other choices? I’m still ambitious as I pursue projects that I feel is worth the time.I spent much of my fifties kidding about being in middle age but I can no longer convincingly get away with that. I’m past middle age but clearly not old yet, either. Not sure there’s a name for it, sort of like an older version of tween I suppose. With our lives extended compared with past generations, we keep finding niches that need naming.How am I celebrating such a monumental day? Writing and even some lesson planning then Deb, Kate, Mike and I will be watching the Binghamton Rumble Ponies (Mets AA) play the Bowie Baysox (Orioles AA). We’re both hitting the milestone this year and do have a celebratory vacation planned in lieu of a party of expensive gifts, because time together is precious and we want to enjoy it. 

#Tags: DC Comics, Journalism, slider