Time Flies

Image: Amaryllis "Novella."

My first-born child turned 50 Sunday, something that left us both incredulous.

Age doesn't mean a lot nowadays. Parents tell me their little girls are more sophisticated at 10 than they were at 20. On the other hand, 50 may be the new 30 or whatever formula you want to use to say that a lot of people keep their enthusiasm for life and new adventures way past what used to be called middle age.

Audrey and I had a long talk about age and aging, but came to no conclusions. Maybe there are no conclusions in this rapidly-changing world. Certainly when supermarkets first opened in the 1940s, one could look around and see women past 30 already cast as either matrons or spinsters. But in the aisles of Trader Joe's, it's anyone's guess how old a woman is. Women are free to do so many more things than ever before, although in each generation there have been females who refused to accept society's assigned roles.

So turning 50 is still a milestone, as AARP will attest, but what it means is open to interpretation.

Happy Birthday, Aud!

--Mom