Fifty Six

On this, my 56th birthday, I remember talking to my aunt one time at her house as I was looking at one of her photos on the wall. In the photo she was very young and very beautiful and and I remember her commenting that now she felt very old and very removed from that photo. She was still very beautiful but just different.
That's the pattern of life: from young to old. Getting old is certainly better than the alternative.  Wrinkles, grey hair and the aches of an tired body are inevitable, although we try to hold them off as long as possible.
My 56th birthday is a special milestone. I was a few days shy of my 13th birthday when my dad passed away at the age of 56. Back then, when people said that 56 was very young, I thought 'that's plenty old enough.' But I guess that's what kids think.
Fifty-six isn’t old. Because for me, right now, I'm barely getting started.
Life moves along. It has its ups and downs. I have laughed and cried. People have come and gone, friends have entered and departed. Relationships have started and been broken. I went to college, became an RN, moved to a different country and back, had a child, worked hard, wrote a book, became a Girl Guide leader, started a small business, all the while moving forward as best I can, trying to be the best person I can be. Living life.
Little did I know that day trips with my guy, vacations, concerts with my daughter, movies, birthday meals with family, hanging out with friends, and running from a skunk down Queen St. in Niagara-on-the-Lake with my best friend, wasn't just living life.
I was making memories.
And memories are the best things to have as I get older, wrinkles or not.