The Square Peg

I gotta admit, I flipped out a little when I turned 30. I kept thinking about all the stuff I hadn't done and wanted to do, thought about all the stuff I had done and wished I hadn't, and all the stuff that was still to come, and wondered what my place was in all of that. Well, my birthday has rolled around again.

Today, after spending most of my days in the "T" zone (teens, twenties & thirties), I entered the "F" zone. I'm forty. That's right, the big 4-0, middle age, over the hill, etc.

But I gotta tell ya, entering the F zone hasn't been like turning 30 at all. And if I started to think some thoughts today similar to the ones I had when I turned 30, they were quickly and decisively dismissed this morning when Moose came in to kiss me good bye before work. He put my face in his hands and said "gosh, you don't look 40". Go ahead, call me vain. Tell me I'm shallow; I don't care. There was something about the way he said it that cemented the goodness of entering 'the F zone'. I'm cool with it.

If being 40 is as much fun as turning 40 has been, I'm gonna like the F zone a lot. I was sung to (twice), sent several good wishes and emails, given gifts I had mentioned I wanted, and came back to work after lunch to discover two, count 'em two, bouquets of flowers in my office; both of which contained purple flowers in honor of my favorite color. This birthday will long be remembered as the coolest one. And since I'm 40, there are a lot of birthdays to compare!

If you're reading this and you were one of the well-wishers, I want you to know you touched me deeply with your thoughtfulness. Thanks for celebrating the anniversary of my birth.