'60'
It is my understanding that God has allowed some of us to live three score and ten, equalling seventy years on this earth. I will be sixty years old this month. It is "the end" of six decades and the beginning of my seventh.
My best girlfriend told me that turning fifty did not bother her but becoming sixty, does. I feel exactly the same way.
So it is with some trepidation and apprehension that I even write about it. I've sat by the fire today, watching the beautiful snow falling down outside, drinking a cup of hot cocoa, watching the rest of the world go by.
I think how it may have been sixty years ago for my parents to be anticipating the birth of an eighth child. I wonder if they wanted another girl or a boy? (they already had three sons and four daughters). What was the boy's name they may have discussed and decided on?
I know that I was born in a local mid-wife's home without any complications. It was snowing then too, a Wednesday. What did I wear home in the taxi? Were my parents and siblings glad to have me join the family? I was the last of the eight children.
My childhood was wonderful, albeit we were poor and it was a struggle for my hard working parents. My mother's job was to be a wife and mother 24/7 and she rose to the challenge. My father was the bread winner and maintained his smart head and able body to do so. Life from my perspective was simple and fullfilling.
So, looking back, the first decade (1948 to 1958) was the easiest and I would not trade one moment of it. The second one (1958 to 1968) was more challenging as, at the end of it, I became a young wife and parent myself. Before the end of that decade, I found myself far from home, living and working in another country, divorced after a nine year marriage to a fine man from Clark's Harbour, a fireman.
By the end of my third decade,(1968 to 1978) I had remarried but through no fault of my own, it was short-lived and I was a divorcee once again.
In the year 1979, I lost my best friend, my mother to cancer and I rushed into re-marrying my second husband. This decade brought our son but also brought much sadness and despair. But I had a wonderful son and daughter to raise and life went on. I continued my full time career as an Insurance Adjuster while working week-ends as a Receptionist for a furniture Company; and still found time and energy to volunteer as a Pink Lady at the hospital.
The decade of 1988 to 1998 was probably my best decade. I finally learned who I was as a woman and what strength I had inherited from my parents. I began to like living alone and being "free".
In my latest decade (1998 to 2008) I have made some major decisions. The most important one was to move back to Canada and start all over near the place of my birth in Nova Scotia. This meant leaving my two children in the USA which has been the only difficult part. The big paychecks stopped with the move across the border but I have never been a materialistic person. My dog, Camo, is my dearest "possession".
This past decade has also brought me a home-based business which I am very proud of. It has reunited me with my old childhood church and many 'old' friends from High School. It has also seen an older face looking back at me from the mirrors which I now try to avoid.
As I begin my seventh decade on this earth while awaiting my fate from our Father above, I have learned so much. I have learned that one's self is not as important as one's own children; that flesh and blood relatives are seldom to be counted on to love or appreciate you; that one's friends are the true prize's in life.
The fireplace begs for another log as I stare into my cup. I see my cup as half full, not half empty. I see my reflection in the glass and I see eyes that are still brown, hair that is still wild and my father's long face in my own female one. And I feel blessed.
Three score and ten may be all I am ever allotted; so be it. I have few regrets, if any. I married two men who were and are good men. I raised two children who are healthy, smart and handsome. I had the best parents in the whole wide world!
Whatever tomorrow may bring, I can handle. I started poor and once had money; now I am poor again but rich in all that really matters. I have integrity, self-respect and my word; I have love.
It is my understanding that God has allowed some of us to live three score and ten, equalling seventy years on this earth. I will be sixty years old this month. It is "the end" of six decades and the beginning of my seventh.
My best girlfriend told me that turning fifty did not bother her but becoming sixty, does. I feel exactly the same way.
So it is with some trepidation and apprehension that I even write about it. I've sat by the fire today, watching the beautiful snow falling down outside, drinking a cup of hot cocoa, watching the rest of the world go by.
I think how it may have been sixty years ago for my parents to be anticipating the birth of an eighth child. I wonder if they wanted another girl or a boy? (they already had three sons and four daughters). What was the boy's name they may have discussed and decided on?
I know that I was born in a local mid-wife's home without any complications. It was snowing then too, a Wednesday. What did I wear home in the taxi? Were my parents and siblings glad to have me join the family? I was the last of the eight children.
My childhood was wonderful, albeit we were poor and it was a struggle for my hard working parents. My mother's job was to be a wife and mother 24/7 and she rose to the challenge. My father was the bread winner and maintained his smart head and able body to do so. Life from my perspective was simple and fullfilling.
So, looking back, the first decade (1948 to 1958) was the easiest and I would not trade one moment of it. The second one (1958 to 1968) was more challenging as, at the end of it, I became a young wife and parent myself. Before the end of that decade, I found myself far from home, living and working in another country, divorced after a nine year marriage to a fine man from Clark's Harbour, a fireman.
By the end of my third decade,(1968 to 1978) I had remarried but through no fault of my own, it was short-lived and I was a divorcee once again.
In the year 1979, I lost my best friend, my mother to cancer and I rushed into re-marrying my second husband. This decade brought our son but also brought much sadness and despair. But I had a wonderful son and daughter to raise and life went on. I continued my full time career as an Insurance Adjuster while working week-ends as a Receptionist for a furniture Company; and still found time and energy to volunteer as a Pink Lady at the hospital.
The decade of 1988 to 1998 was probably my best decade. I finally learned who I was as a woman and what strength I had inherited from my parents. I began to like living alone and being "free".
In my latest decade (1998 to 2008) I have made some major decisions. The most important one was to move back to Canada and start all over near the place of my birth in Nova Scotia. This meant leaving my two children in the USA which has been the only difficult part. The big paychecks stopped with the move across the border but I have never been a materialistic person. My dog, Camo, is my dearest "possession".
This past decade has also brought me a home-based business which I am very proud of. It has reunited me with my old childhood church and many 'old' friends from High School. It has also seen an older face looking back at me from the mirrors which I now try to avoid.
As I begin my seventh decade on this earth while awaiting my fate from our Father above, I have learned so much. I have learned that one's self is not as important as one's own children; that flesh and blood relatives are seldom to be counted on to love or appreciate you; that one's friends are the true prize's in life.
The fireplace begs for another log as I stare into my cup. I see my cup as half full, not half empty. I see my reflection in the glass and I see eyes that are still brown, hair that is still wild and my father's long face in my own female one. And I feel blessed.
Three score and ten may be all I am ever allotted; so be it. I have few regrets, if any. I married two men who were and are good men. I raised two children who are healthy, smart and handsome. I had the best parents in the whole wide world!
Whatever tomorrow may bring, I can handle. I started poor and once had money; now I am poor again but rich in all that really matters. I have integrity, self-respect and my word; I have love.
