Yes, I turned 50 on October 26, 2010. If you had asked me 20 years ago, what turning 50 would be like, I would have had a very different answer than the one that I have today. Back then, I might have said that 50 was old. Not now. Now I think that 50 is just a little bit past young and way way before old. Twenty years ago, I would have thought that at 50, I would know everything and have my life well planned and organized. Not now. No, I sure don't feel wise and my life is chaotic and there is no such thing as organization. But, today, I say, turning 50 is absolutely wonderful! It sure feels good to be alive and it sure feels good to feel well enough to celebrate. I, more so than some others, know that there are no guarantees of being alive from one birthday to another. And, I know that there is no guarantee that I will celebrate 51 or 60 or 100, and there is no guarantee that I won't either! I guess that is what we call "the uncertainties of life". I have been very fortunate in that respect. There have been quite a few "uncertainties of life" in my life. Some more uncertain than others. There have been more than a few times in my life that celebrating another birthday wasn't a "sure thing". Not just the major illnesses (non-hodgkins lymphoma; brain lymphoma; and the platelette eating infection and coma), but there were at least three other "near death experiences" from my childhood: (i) the time that I had a cyst on my ear drum that almost burst - when my mother got me to the hospital, they admitted me for surgery immediately and told her that she didn't even have time to wait for my father to get there before they started surgery; and (ii) the time that I stepped on a broken needle and it was in my foot for months until forming a giant lump and when a doctor finally removed it, he told me that he couldn't believe that it hadn't caused blood poisoning which would have caused me to die; and (iii) the time that I thought that I was drowning while camping and swimming in a lake (or some other such body of water) with the girl scouts. I probably was not really drowning, but it sure did feel like it. (FYI: Barbie pulled me to safety and I lost a shoe, but continued the camping trip and I had a great story to tell and retell for years afterwards!) I am sure that we can all remember a few "near misses" from our past - those times when a car "almost" hit us or that we were "almost" run over by a car or "almost" hit right in the head by a speeding baseball. Yes, I have seen my share of near misses and mighty close to death moments, but thanks to medical professionals (and Barbie) I am here and I am alive and I am just over 50 years old. Yes, I am thankful for every moment of these last five decades - the good moments and the bad ones. it sure does feel wonderful to be 50 - I just wish that I was a little wiser and a bit more organized!
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