48

[randy_byers]

Today I'm 48 years old. Thank you. Thank you very much.

It finally occurs to me that I am Not Young any more.

Later today I'm flying to central Oregon to hang with the family over the weekend.

Update: How old will I be before I come of age for you?
I get up, I get down
I get up, I get down
I get up, I get down

And I'm huffing and puffing from all that getting up and getting down! Where'd the escalator get to?!

Comments

[strangedave.livejournal.com]

thank you. I thought I only had a couple of years before I wasn't young any more, but you have given me hope that I can hold out for a full decade!

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

Just bear in mind that I'm typically slow on the uptake.

[malibrarian.livejournal.com]

Oh come now, you're not 50 yet, no cause for feeling old until then!

Happy birthday and have a good time with the family!

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

Yeah well, this is the first year where it struck me that I'll be fifty before I know it. Getting ahead of myself, I guess.

[swisstone.livejournal.com]

Happy birthday!

[stevegreen.livejournal.com]

Many happy returns.

I hit 48 back in April. Or did 48 hit me? Feels so long ago, I can't remember.

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

You've taken one of the hardest hits a person can take this year.

[stevegreen.livejournal.com]

There are days I wish that hit could have taken us both off. But Ann wouldn't have wanted that.

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

No, she wouldn't have, and neither do the rest of us want it. I've never had to go through the kind of loss you are experiencing, but I know others have survived it. I know you can too. Hang in there, Steve. One day at a time. Ann would want it, and we all want it too.

[don-fitch.livejournal.com]

Well... yeah, "Not Young any more" is reasonably applicable. But the next step is not "Old" -- except for maybe an hour or so on Monday mornings (when Monday isn't a holiday). You can start to sort that out when you're about 65. (Some guys do it earlier than that, but you don't strike me as the kind who'd comb his hair to cover the bald spot.)

[gerisullivan.livejournal.com]

Yes, what Don said. And my Dad, too, in his own way:

"When I get old, I want to still feel good." -- Dan Fitzgerald, September 1998, age 75

He didn't self-identify as Old until his 80s arrived.

Happy birthday!

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

True, no comb-over. Instead I shave my whole head to hide the bald spot.

[juliebata.livejournal.com]

Happy Birthday from Luke and I both!

[wrdnrd]

Happy birthday, fellow rat!

[intelligentrix.livejournal.com]

Oh! If you're year of the rat, I should use this icon, instead.

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

Eek!

[intelligentrix.livejournal.com]

In five months, I'll be as old as you! Of course, by then you'll be five months older, but who's counting?

In any case, Happy Birthday!!!!!!! I hope you get to do something enjoyable in celebration.

[reverendjim.livejournal.com]

Happy Birthday! Sounds like a good excuse for a nice beer.

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

As if I need an excuse. Mine's a Red Rocket Ale at the moment. From Bear Republic, which I'm going to guess is in California somewhere.

[(Anonymous)]

You're welcome!

Er... I mean, Happy Birthday!

[jophan.livejournal.com]

Oops, I wasn't logged in, apparently.

[replyhazy.livejournal.com]

Hurrah for Not-Youngness!

And you really are a jolly good fellow. Really.

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

You sound like you're trying to convince yourself!

[ron-drummond.livejournal.com]

Happy burpday.

[daveon.livejournal.com]

Ya old fart! Happy Birthday!

[alces2.livejournal.com]

Happy Birthday! Gee I guess that means I haven't been young for 8 years. Thanks. Thanks a lot . . .

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

Ah well, Not Young is purely a frame of mind. I don't claim your frame has to be the same as mine.

[e-compass-rosa.livejournal.com]

Oh damn! I meant to wish you Happy Birthday on Thursday night, as I knew I wouldn't have time until late today, and I wanted to beat the crowd. Oh well... Happy 48!!

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

Thanks, E! Or should that be: thankee! (A pirate's thank you?)

[grytpype-thynne.livejournal.com]

NEVER!

You're... OLDER ... than me?!

I would never have thought that (I am 46).

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

Punk! Whippersnapper! CHILD!!!!