Today I Am Seventy

Happy Birthday to me!

I love birthdays. 

Especially milestone birthdays. 

Today I woke up knowing I'm now 70 years old. 

Seventy. 

Do I feel old? 

Honey. 

Sometimes I feel so old I think I'm the most decrepit ol' broad on God's green earth.

But usually not.

Usually I just feel the same as I did thirty years ago.

If I go back too many more than thirty, I think I was maybe a different girl.

A little bit of a wild child.

A party hearty kinda kid.

And I wouldn't change a thing.

I was happy, and I was content.

The happy and content I am now is a totally different sort of happy and content, but every bit as lovely.

I've gone through some tough times, just the same as every one has.

I remember them clearly.

And I learned from them.

I maybe didn't learn from them right away, but eventually, like a smack to the head, the lesson became clear.

And I'm still learning.

And facing the fact that I don't have as many days ahead of me as I have behind me.

And that's okay.

But by golly, with Donald Barley by my side, I intend to continue making the most of them and being grateful for the blessings I have.

And I thank each of you for joining me along the journey.  

Happy Happy Birthday to me!

I Am Not Old

I am not old…she said
I am rare.
I am the standing ovation
At the end of the play.
I am the retrospective
Of my life as art
I am the hours
Connected like dots
Into good sense
I am the fullness
Of existing.
You think I am waiting to die…
But I am waiting to be found
I am a treasure.
I am a map.
And these wrinkles are
Imprints of my journey
Ask me anything.

~ Samantha Reynolds