usadeepsouth.com
by Gilda Griffith Brown
Birthdays have never concerned me overly much since I have always felt blessed just to be alive. After all, at the young age of 27, I battled breast cancer along with Betty Ford, Happy Rockefeller and millions of other women. I do have to admit that I have given a lot of thought to my birthday this year. It is one of those decade setters, and the decade is my sixth.
That's right, this old boomer is turning 60!
Yeah, I've been kind of thinking about it for several months, not exactly happy thoughts, either; but, thankfully, I received an education on how to enter this decade of life a few weeks ago. A whole new way of thinking has developed for me, and I owe it to a feisty little elderly lady in a local dress shop.
She and I were standing in line, chatting while waiting to pay for our purchases, when we somehow got on the subject of birthdays. When I grimaced and told her I was turning 60 in May, she gave me a big old smile and advised, "Now, honey! Don’t let that bother you; 60 is just a number. My motto is 'Give out but don’t give up!'"
About this time her cell phone sounded, and I heard her answer with: "What’s up, girlfriend?"
This was a brief but important encounter because her motto has become mine. By the time anyone reads this, I will have entered my sixtieth year. Not only will I have entered it, but I will have surely danced into it with a joy and freedom that I would have never thought possible -- and all because someone finally told me that 60 is just a number.
A regular contributor to USADEEPSOUTH.com, Gilda Griffith Brown lives in her hometown of Canton, Mississippi. You can email Gilda at this e-mail address.
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