HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!

THE LULU CHRONICLES

LuLu-ism #2: Just because today is your 60^th birthday doesn’t mean you can’t ride a bike, or walk six miles, or decide you might want to become an astronaut.Well, maybe starting to learn astrophysics in your sixth decade is stretching it a bit, but whatever! Birthdays are just numbers arranged in a sequence. Now is the time to put more stock into dreams than numbers. I’m just saying…

PHOTO: My birthday cake. It was made out of 60 cupcakes

Thank you, family!

Today, at 7:15 p.m. I will officially turn sixty years old. For years on my birthday, my daddy would tell me about the day I was born. According to my dad, I was born with a pointy head. I’m assuming then, that I was not the cutest puppy in the nursery… however, I was probably the most interesting.

All my life I have felt like I was special. Maybe that was due to my parents extraordinary doting skills, or the fact that I have always been able to touch my tongue to my nose, or maybe it was the pointed head thing. Whatever, I’ve always believed I could do anything I wanted if I put my mind to it. With that said, it makes me wonder on this my sixtieth birthday why I am just me, instead of someone that turns heads or cured cancer or invented Post-Its. After sixty years, I’m still just me.

As I was riding LuLu this morning, in the cold (remember I live in Wisconsin) I had a thought. Being just me is okay… even after all these years. No, I haven’t contributed in some highly public and astonishing way, but I have managed to stay out of jail. What I mean is that I think in my sixty years on the planet, I’ve done more good than harm.

No, I didn’t become a world famous photographer with National Geographic (something I thought I might want to do someday). But, I have taken some photos of my family that are priceless. Nope, I didn’t become that Marine Biologist I thought about who would skin dive and swim with giant turtles. But I am teaching my granddaughter how to dog paddle and float on her back. I wouldn’t trade that for anything. Have I traveled aboard? Nope. Am I well versed in…well, anything? Hardly. Well, okay, I’ve written a couple of books and I’m hard to beat at Scrabble.

Let me tell you what I really am… As I was peddling down the road with my fake knee and my not too comfortable cowgirl, it dawned on me: I am happy. Life has been extremely hard this year. I’ve had challenges that should have broken me, discouraged me and left me for the buzzards. But they didn’t. God simply wouldn’t let them. By His grace, I’m still standing. I’m sixty years old and I’m not only standing, I’m peddling! And with each rotation of my bike tires, I feel new dreams bubbling up inside me. I’m thinking about taking up painting and archery.

I’m happy. Not bad for a gal who started out with a pointy head, wouldn’t you say?

deb