geriatric confessions

Stan Here:   

It is not always a good sign when I write these things.  Deb has me do some of the writing when she is not feeling all that well but fortunately that is not the case today.  She wanted me to write something about turning 60 yesterday. Two troubling things about 60, one self imposed.  Turns out for some reason I have always thought of 60 as the turning point between young and old.  I am not sure why I had thought of it this way and I am not sure even now that I feel all that different, but anyway the day has come and gone and I feel about the same.  Do you get anything when you are 60? Well, I did have a nice party with my kids at Alden's house. They gave me some nice cards and some really great gifts and mostly we just had a great time.  Thanks Alden and Mary for hosting the nice party.

I get my hair cut at a little place in Zeeland and those guys have been at the trade for a long time.  Every once in a while they have some good insights about life so I asked them what it felt like for them to be past 60.  The one guy said he had never thought about it, but all he knew is that at around 60 hair stops growing on top of your head and it starts coming out your ears and nose.  On the way home I did check the rear view mirror pretty often to see if I could notice anything in these areas.  But, that is the other part of the problem.  I am not sure the eyesight is sharp enough to see even if they were there.  I did get some nice balloons with my name on them, a nice card and a nice personalized cake from our friend Karen and this did make me feel a little better.   Plus a bunch of nice facebook well wishers but that brings up another problem.  When you are 60 you don't always know how to use  facebook so I had the kids help me read and find all the stuff.  I am really not sure what it means when you are supposed to put down that you "liked this" but I can tell you now that I did.   I do know more than when I was 59.  Thanks for all your well wishes and gifts. They meant a lot to me.

Deb here:
I don't mind being married to an "old man". He is the same Stan the Man to me, pretty nice to me. He puts up with a lot from me. I have felt better the past couple of days. I think it's because I made plans to get out of the house. Sitting around only makes me feel sorry for myself and think about the future, which I have no control over. So, I think I do better when I get out of the house, no matter how I feel.

I need to thank my friend Molly who gave us a generous gift certificate to a local restaurant. We were surprised to run into each other at the same wedding reception venue this week, both making plans for our kids upcoming weddings! Happy planning!

I ask you to pray for my sister-in-law Nancy who after many months of tests and seeing different specialists was finally diagnosed with Q-fever, a cousin to Lyme's Disease. She had to have a Pic line put in, needs IV antibiotics for few months and then oral ones for a year. Never heard of that one before. We love you Nancy and we wish you the best.

My co-worker Mary wanted to help me do something around the house, so I said if she was up to it, I would love help organizing my closet. She not only did that, she helped me get my house ready to have all the carpets cleaned. Mary, you are the best! I really appreciate all the help. When the energy level is low, sometimes just having someone there keeping you going at the tasks at hand is great.

Praying for our good friend Dan who had a hip replacement in GR. We wish you the best Dan, and pray for an uneventful recovery. You have a great nurse there in Deb.

Need to thank lots of friends who have stocked our frig and freezer this week. Jeanne, Corrine, Sara, Bonnie and Nancy you guys are too much. I can't thank you enough for thinking of us.

We are looking forward to Ross and Rumy coming again tomorrow evening. We hope to attend the GRS on Sunday afternoon. They are performing a Disney concert.

The fire in going in the fireplace, we are going to rent Water for Elephants on U-Verse. Now we just hope we can both stay awake for the whole movie. Deb