Celebrate It All

What would a birthday be without a blog post? After all, I wrote my first eight years ago, on my 53rd birthday.When I turned 30, an old college friend convinced me to do it up big, stating, "No one cares when you turn 31." True. So for most of us, these 'milestone' birthdays tend to be momentous.Last year, when I told my soon-to-be-retired ophthalmologist that I was nearly 60, he chuckled and remarked that once you hit 60, those 'milestones' are every five years instead of every ten years. Yikes, I thought.But he was (partially) right. There are fewer decades left. I've seen too many friends die too soon, dammit.My pal Christine DePetrillo asks every Friday online, "What are you celebrating?" Some Fridays I don't have an answer, but it's not because I'm a pessimist. Yesterday I thought, well, I'm celebrating my birthday this weekend. Sixty-one is as much a celebration as sixty, maybe even more so.So, I jumped waves at the beach today with my husband, sang along to songs on the radio, accepted lots of well wishes (thank you!) and will indulge in something sweet after dinner tonight. It's all worth celebrating.