Birthday Blog

When I turned 5 years old I ran down the street screaming, "I'm 5, I'm 5, I'm 5 today". I have never been secretive or elusive about my age. I can't understand those people who turn 29 over and over again.

Maybe it is because most people don't think I am as old as I am. I have been blessed with a younger look. I think the freckles help. Although I didn't always think so. When I was a kid I hated my freckles, I thought they were ugly because I looked different. My Mum promised me that by the time I was 21 they would be gone. On my 21st birthday I called her and told her she lied. I hadn't actually believed they would be wiped out over night, but I was hoping I would blend in more, and at that point in my life I was still not feeling very blended.

This year I am taking particular pleasure in developing new freckle patches. I have had a lot of opportunity to get out in the sun, and like with my freckles, I am choosing to not think of myself as being different from the norm, but rather offering up alternative norms to look at.

My father has a good phrase he likes to say about aging; "The alternative to getting old is no fun". Definitely words to stay alive by.

And so on this day, in a small village in Wales, I am walking down the street saying, "I'm 40, Im 40, I'm 40 today!"

Happy Birthday to you all!!