On Easter Sunday I had my 55th birthday.  Nuff said...  After a great Church sevrvice, we went up to our cabin for a family dinner, which got cut short because there was a fire going, and Colleen is deathly allergic to smoke.  We ended the day with a late lunch/early dinner at PF Changs with Ben and his girlfriend Alese, eating off the gluten free menu (another story).  All in all, I am grateful for making it so far.

A major delight of reaching this milestone is now I can qualify for the Senior Citizen's discount in a lot of places.  Restaurants, the movies, etc.  I made Colleen celebrate with me the next evening by going to IHOP so I could order off the senior menu.  I saved about 20%.  Sadly, they don't card you, and the waiter sort of looked at me weird when I boasted that this was my first time ordering as a senior (Why did Colleen crawl under the table at this point?).

I guess I am happy to reach each new milestone in my life, even if it runs against our youth oriented cultural context.  I am more than a few pounds overweight.  My brown hair is returning to the blond of its youth (OK, it really is grey white, with a disturbing propensity to fall out, leaving me with a really cool comb over...).  But all in all, I am glad to say I am glad to be here, thank you.  (Halitosis is better than no breath at all!).

In addition to the discounts on food, etc., I am enjoying this age of seniority in other ways.  One of the greatest joys is to see the people I have worked with grow up and become leaders in their own right.  I don't have to be in the forefront, and I am not nearly so motivated as to ensure that.  I am happy to be a spectator/coach/benchwarmer and rejoice when others take my ideas and run with them.  I still have tremendous drive and dreams (just take a look at my previous blogs!), but they don't include me as the star.  My desire to influence people is more of a pointing out of some alternatives, an offering of some tools that may or may not be used.  This is new and different.

My greatest joy in my old (!) age, is the opportunity I have to spend time with my Dad.  Stan is coming up to 90 and a half, and is forcing me (!) to accompany him on a cruise between Moscow and St. Pete in May.  I am sure I will have a lot to blog about on this trip.

As you grow old, try and do so gracefully.  Or at least joyfully.  Or if all else fails, humorously.  Life happens.  Enjoy it!