My dad always told me as I was growing up, that I was catching up to him in age. 

This never made much sense to me, seeing as he was so much older than me when I was born.  Wouldn’t we always stay that same distance apart?  And then he would begin spewing out some mathematical equation that proved his point, and that I was indeed “catching up”.

Without pulling out the numbers here to bore you, {and because I couldn’t if I wanted to) he basically explained that at some point I would be half his age…where before, I wasn’t.  And later, I would be three fourths of his age.  I’m actually more than half his age now.  You can see that I am still confused.  {Dad, if you are reading this  – feel free to comment, and explain your theory to all of us.}

Even though I am still perplexed by the exact numbers of it all, I would have to say that I DO feel like I am catching up to adults in my life that seemed ancient to me as a child.  My cousin Sean, that I adore, (and even had a slight crush on as a child) now seems to be my same age.  My parents were older than the hills when they were in their 30’s, and my Grandparents may as well have been dead.

Now, they are just all part of one whole – my loved ones.  I view grey hair just a little bit differently then ever before.  I see wisdom in wrinkles, and often notice what kinds of wrinkles someone has.  It is always interesting that the lines on our face, trace our countenance.  You can usually tell if a person has spent more time with a grimace on their face, or the smile, by the lines that have carved a permanent placement.  I actually think about this quite often, as I see myself in the mirror.  Am I chiseling out lines to look like my Grandma that has beautiful smile wrinkles, or not?  I find it interesting that the eyes, a window to our soul, are the only thing that hold their youthful glow. And, rightly so.

I look around now at my friends, and a good percentage of them are older than me.  I love viewing the world through their eyes.  I love finding older people than me that have been through the craziness of life, and are still able to hold onto their youthfulness.  My mom and dad are possibly the greatest example of this.  My dad lives his life, to show others a good time.  He reminds me of his dad in this way, my Grandpa that I was close to.  He actually rented a BUS for all of his kids and grand kids for several years in a row, and drove us around from state to state to see the landmarks.  My cousin Angie and I shared a room with he and Grandma at the end of each day, and got to watch him recount every aspect of our adventures and who enjoyed each activity the best.

My mom is a die hard water skier, and puts all of us to shame on the lake.  She is the first one up and ready in the morning with her swimsuit on (waiting and tapping her foot), and the last one off the water at the end of the day.  Come rain or shine, warm or freezing water.  She is on it!  She always reminds us to have a good time, and enjoy life. 

Tomorrow is my birthday, and I will be hiking Timp mountain.  Last month when I went, it took all day.  It is a beautiful hike, especially with the fall colors gracing the hills.  They always show up in full force on my birthday, and I couldn’t be more happy about that.  I see it as natures gift to me!

So, whether I am catching up to my parents in age, or my dad is just messin’ around with me, it doesn’t really matter as long as I am living life to the fullest.  Enjoying every day with my kids, and putting first things first.

And who knows, maybe someday they will catch up to me in age! 

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