My 56th Trip Around the Sun

Just for kicks, I decided to turn 56 years old this week. All the “freedom” of the past year has been getting on my nerves and it’s time for something different. Not that I expect much to change. I will no doubt discover still more useless information stored in my brain while remaining unable to retrieve the stuff I actually need.

My Twin

Who is this, anyway?

Well, it’s official. My sister Shanon looks more like me than I do. If she and I both competed in a Terrie Todd look-alike contest, she would win. (We have seven years and two siblings between us, so the odds of us actually being twins are slim.)

Shanon doesn’t write a column, but she keeps me abreast of the random people who tell her they enjoy her column, and how she enjoys saying “thanks.” 

I always figured she invented these stories to make me feel good. Then it happened.

I was in the Co-op one day when a distant acquaintance came over to me and said, “So I was reading your sister’s column the other day….” 

I waited until I knew whether she liked the column before correcting her.

My Other Twin

Then there’s my birthday twin who looks nothing like me. I met Linda (I can call her that now) when I was a high school student and she was my Home Economics teacher. I still remember her telling us, “If you want to be a sweet little old lady someday, you need to be a sweet young lady now.” Sadly, I chose sarcasm over sweetness and now I’m mostly just old.

Linda and Glen (I can call him that now) welcomed me into their home on several occasions, where they treated me to scrumptious homemade breads, soups, and cookies and modelled a healthy, faith-filled marriage. Linda and I discovered we shared the same birthday. Now we stay in touch by email and Facebook, especially on our birthday. She is, of course, older by a decade or so. But with each passing year, the difference becomes less significant as we compare notes about our ailments and grandchildren. Funny how that works.

What not to wear after fifty

Advice abounds about all the things women my age should stop wearing, like blue eye shadow, bejeweled jeans, and long hair. I say wear what you like and follow the better advice given by Michelle Poston Combs on Huffington Post recently. Among the things she says women over fifty should stop wearing? Shame and regret. A stiff upper-lip. The weight of the world.

My years on this planet have taught me I can’t even manage to carry my own burdens, let alone others’. I’m forever grateful to the one who bore the weight of the world on his shoulders and invited me, as a child, to cast my cares on him because he cares for me. (I Peter 5:7). He invites you, too. Happy Birthday to us.