Turning 50 – October 23

On October 23rd I entered into a new era of life. I turned 50! Not a big deal. I imagine millions of people experience this each day.

My mom had planned a family dinner at the Fircrest Golf Club the night of my birthday which I looked forward to. Then, at the coaxing of my friend Liesl, I decided to have an additional party for family and friends on the 24th at Joeseppi’s. Prior to this weekend, I suffered from some bug that I must have caught while in Guatemala. Needless to say, I was feeling my age that week. Fortunately, I recovered well enough to enjoy the festivities.

My brother, his wife, son and his girlfriend drove up from California, which was a blessing in itself, allowing my entire family to be there for Saturday night. My niece, Andrea had everyone share something they appreciated about me, which added a nice touch to the evening.

I was overwhelmed the next night and a bit out of my element being the center of attention. The plan was to have an open house approach to the evening. However, as it turned out—and I liked how it turned out—folk lingered and mingled. The room wasn’t made for the amount of people I invited. Fortunately, not everyone was able to attend. But there was a great turnout and I feel blessed to have the friends and family that God planned for me.

Thanks to Liesl, people were asked to bring 50 of something. This opened it up for just about anything from 50 rolls of toilet paper, nails, batteries, candy, cookies, marbles, 50 sharpened pencils (for those “You’ve Got Mail movie fans), tennis balls (actually, I was told there were only 49), and an assortment of tasty treats.