Well, let’s see… I hope everyone is fairing well. I am trying. It has been raining here so much, I have actually thought of buying a boat, haha.

Rain is alright but not loads of it. I am writing because believe me or not I am turning 50 this coming Saturday. I am not in any way a fan of turning 50 nor do I like the fact I feel 30 but am actually going to be 50. I look young, think young, and feel for the most part, young.

Not to say that I have not had three kids, now have three grandkids, and have been married for 24 years. With that kind of thing comes comfort, familiarity and “use to its”. I like the fact that I am young looking, helps my ego a lot. The one thing I do not like is having diabetes and having things that pertain to years of having it. Diabetes can certainly age a person.

I like the same things, but my eating habits have greatly changed from my younger years, for sure. I like the same people and some have been in my life since I started school. That is a long time to know and keep in touch with a person. I have lived over half of my life with the same person, my husband and I would not know what to do without him. Those kinds of things make getting older, sweet and comforting.

Now if I was to name things I do not care for about aging it would be first and foremost, pain. Things that keep you awake in the middle of the night and those things that limit your abilities, those are the top of the list. I hate seeing those “told you so’s” hit me in the head. I do not like the fact I see my loved ones and friends die. I don’t care for tooth issues that present themselves out of the clear blue, as if to tell me my teeth are old too.

I wish sometimes I could run like the child, I use to be, and how they did many moons ago. I have not yet got to live out all my wishes and dreams. I long for the simple days of my life but cannot seem to find that peace. I do not mind wrinkles, nor do I mind the fact that I am most definitely in the “ma’am” category and not the “young lady” one. I don’t like the rude younger generation that seems to think the world owes them something. The world does not owe anyone anything, young or old.

In getting older I see things that this coming up generation never will. I will be able to tell my grandkids things they have yet to know from books or encyclopedias. I will be referred to as, “the one who knows” and I will be the considered smart for the simplest of tasks because this generation has technology in their pockets more than the fortitude to discover things “hands-on”.

I loved being wild and carefree. I never thought of myself as I am today, back in those younger years. I could not of foretold all I know and have learnt. I simply did not ever give thought to growing this age. Seems now, all I give thought to is mostly this age, peppered with memories of how things used to be.

If I could offer words of wisdom to the readers of this, out there, in this world, I might tell you to never stop believing. Never let your mind and heart grow tired of trying. Lift someone else up and hold them till they can do things on their own. Spend time with those less fortunate and try to put yourself in their place and understand why things are how they are for them. Say your prayers of thanksgiving and gratitude to those who have helped you ad brought you along beside them. Please, NEVER stop dreaming of a better life, a better world or situation. It can happen.

Things do not happen in a day, they happen when we work for them. Things do not just follow us till we realize it, we need to search for ourselves. We need to love, accept love, and graciously express it. We need to make this world, our people, and all that is in between a better place. We are not alone here. If in getting older you can be a better person, give more, be more, and achieve the impossible, you and each person you have influenced will continue. A small piece, a large piece, it does not matter, those pieces multiply.

I may be turning 50, but my mind is still good. My eyes still see, and I still feel things like for the first time. I have much to give, little I need, and advice that I need to share.

Thanks for reading! I shall see you on this side of the RAINBOW!

Michelle <3