remember when...

....you were five and just starting school?

The big kids in grade seven, the twelve year olds, were soooo big!
High school kids seemed grown up and teachers were old.
Anyone aged 40 was positively ancient.

Then suddenly, we were the "big kids", the twelve year old seventh graders.
High school kids didn't seem so grown up anymore and teachers that didn't have grey hair weren't so old after all.
Anyone aged 40 was still old, but no longer ancient.
60 was considered elderly.

The years flew by and we were 20, then 30 and suddenly 40 didn't seem so old anymore.
60 seemed so far away still.

Well, geez! Where did those far away years go?
Today, I turned 60.
I'm old.

I don't feel old, although there are days when my body feels like it's been hit by a truck and if I have to stand up one more minute I'll collapse in a heap.

My mind, however, is still caught in my younger years.
I'm old, but I'm not mature.
I'm just a big kid.
I still see the good in everything, I love kicking through autumn leaves, splashing in puddles, drawing faces in the sand at the beach.
I love kids movies, cartoons, I read young adult books alongside my regular novels.
I'm not a deep thinker, I take things at face value most of the time.

I'm still looking forward to growing old, to a time when I can be more leisurely throughout my days.
Today in the supermarket, a customer in the checkout next to mine told us she was 91.
91!! And still doing her own shopping!!

I hope someday to be over 90 and still doing my own shopping.

Anyway, back to the point of this story.

I'd hoped to get through my birthday without a fuss, but that didn't happen.
I was surprised when a meeting was called in the lunchroom, where I just happened to be sitting waiting to start my shift, and myself and another girl (C), were presented with cakes and flowers while everyone gathered sang Happy Birthday to us.

A bunch of pretty pink roses for me and a bunch of cream coloured roses for C who turned 50.

The cakes brought out for us were lovely. A small vanilla cake with vanilla cream and strawberries for C and a larger chocolate cake with chocolate cream and glace cherries for me.
I always feel awkward when people make a fuss of me, I'm just not used to it, but this felt nice. All of us sitting or standing around eating cake after C and I had blown out our candles.

When my shift was over I decided to cut another slice of cake (if there was any of it left), and bring it home for dessert. Well, there wasn't much left, so the office manager suggested just taking the whole thing home. I said was she sure about this, someone else might still want a piece?
But she insisted, saying it was late in the day, and probably no-one would want any and it would just get thrown out the next day.

So I brought it home.

I sliced it into six and put five pieces into lunch boxes in the freezer and I'm enjoying the sixth piece as I type these words.

Happy Birthday me!!