rechelle's lifelyrics

This week, I enjoyed a quiet celebration of my 59th birthday. We ended up spending 2 nights at the coast, where I really enjoyed my walk on the beach and lots of time to sit and listen to the waves crashing on the shore. We didn’t watch TV or read the news. Ray worked from the room, and I took my time doing Pilates, resting, walking, and doing a little work on my song book project. The weather was beautiful, and it was the perfect way to wind down from all of the hustle and bustle of last week.

I remember how excited I was to turn 50, because I felt like it was an honor to reach a half a century on this earth. A few women in my life had shared their perspectives on aging, and said they felt the most settled in their 50’s, so I was probably a rarity feeling like my 50th birthday was a positive milestone! It seemed to me that my seasons of life were similar to what they portrayed leading up to that special day, so I was pretty confident the decade would follow suit.

I was a rebellious teenager, super insecure in my 20’s, then trying desperately to figure out who I really was in my 30’s, and finally feeling a bit more settled in my 40’s – though still way too concerned about everyone else’s opinions of me – and basically starting over with a brand new baby while raising teenagers. I was looking forward to my 50’s where I was told I would essentially get over the obstacle of overvaluing other people’s opinions and finally settle in to who I had become from all the trials and triumphs of the “growing” years.

Now that I’m almost 60, everything is different. My husband and I have returned to an everyday life that is somewhat similar to our first two years of marriage as “just the two of us.” However, I think we appreciate quiet seasons so much more after raising a houseful of kids. We still have a big need to have lots of interaction with family and friends on a regular basis, so we continue to host dinner parties and events as we are able. We don’t have any close friends our age that are in the same stage of life as us – an “empty-nester couple,” so I often reflect on my memories of people I counted as good role models in my youth. My biggest role model was in her 70’s when I started “getting to know her” as an adult, so I don’t really know what my Grandma was like in her 60’s. I can only guess that she was as graceful, kind, and giving in those years when I wasn’t paying attention. I’m thankful for the memories I have that help me know we are on a good path for the next however many years we have as we age.

Sometimes I feel like we are at a disadvantage because we don’t have a network of folks in the same situation as us, that we could pal around with and learn from as we go along. But when I take time to consider the fact that we still have a solid foundation, pretty good health, family and friends near to us, a fairly active lifestyle, and a nice home to live in, I think our 60’s have the potential to be even better than our 50’s.