Thoughts at 60

60 years old.  When did this happen?  

It doesn’t seem so long ago that my Dad turned 60.  My first memory of realizing my Dad was looking old was when he was 60.  He was helping me move some boxes and furniture when I noticed - a little out of breath, hair disheveled, slightly red in the face.  I remember thinking, “Oh my.  My Dad looks old.”

And now here I am at 60.  When I look in the mirror, I don't see 60.  Yes, I see the gray hair, but I don’t see 60.  I certainly don’t feel 60 (though some of my joints might disagree).  

But here it is.  And along with it the acknowledgement that the world is not the same as it was when I was younger.  I see the parents walking their kids to the school bus stops.  These adults are about the same age as my children.  Many of my dear friends at church are the ages of my adult children or their spouses, and some even younger.  We play with the babies of friends we watched grow up when their parents and we were younger.

I am a granddad.  Yet when I see pictures of my grandparents when I was the age of my granddaughter, I have trouble picturing myself in their place.  Weren’t my grandparents old?  How come I’m not?  Then I look more closely at the pictures.  They weren’t old in the pictures.  Some didn’t even have gray hair, yet.  They are me, nearly 60 years ago.

What did I dream life would be like at 60?  I do not think I could have imagined the roads my life has taken, roads determined by my choices as well as the choices others made that impacted me.  However, how many of us live the life to 60 exactly the way we first dreamed it would be?  

Many of those I grew up with never made this far:  Mark, Joe Allen, Diane, Candy, just to recall a few.  

I am grateful for the friends I have had for many years, almost as long as I can remember:  Kathy, Nelson, Cassandra, Colleen, and many, many others.  I am grateful for the digital technology and social media that has allowed me to re-connect or reconcile with friends I might have had trouble finding without it:  Mark, Ann, Barbara, Cathy, Janet, and precious others.  

And many of my mentors when I was young are still around to encourage me:  Paul, Ann,  Rusty, Charles, Jeanette, Jack, and Don.  

I am joyful for my dear family - my wife, my children and their spouses, my granddaughter and the granddaughter on the way, my Dad, my sister, the cousins, aunt, and in-laws with me today whom I love with all of my heart.

I miss my family that are not here today, 

particularly my Mom.  She was always the first to call me each birthday.  I am grateful for the way they cared for me and guided me.  I hope, as part of the great cloud of witnesses watching, my life has been lived thus far in a way that makes them proud.

Once, during a hard time in my life, a trusted friend asked how I endured.  When I hesitated to reply, they gently reminded me to not forget my faith in my God and Savior.  I could not have reached this age and where I am today without my faith in and gratitude to my Lord and Savior who has brought me this far and blessed me far more than I deserve on my own.

I am grateful for 60.