The 60th trip around the sun begins

I completed my 59th trip around the sun on June 19.

That means that I’ve begun my 60th orbit on spaceship earth.

Birthdays are occasions for reflection, and as I approach my 60th birthday in 11 months I’ll do more than my share of reflecting -- looking back at what was, looking forward at what’s ahead.

Much of the current reflection comes from watching my children in their own adult lives.

My son David is getting ready to start a terrific full-time, well-paying job at Columbia University in New York City.

My daughter Elizabeth is getting married in less than two months.

I’m six months into grandfatherhood, my stepdaughter Kelsey having giving birth to Rylin.

How can it be that all this is happening when it wasn’t that long ago, or so it seems, that I was getting my first job, that I was getting married for the first time, that I was having my first child?

I know a second is a second, a day is a day, a week is a week, a month is a month, and a year is a year.

But, as you age and look back, those events in the rear view mirror seem a lot closer than they actually are; those years seem more like seconds.

I’m not melancholy or upset about the lightning progression of years. I’m just in awe that it’s gone by so fast.

Yet, I’m determined to hold the years at arm’s length for as long as my physical strength, mental acuity, and emotional fortitude can last.

My sister Margaret gave me what she called a life-changing book; ”Younger Next Year.”

It was my birthday present from her along with a heart monitor for me to wear while I exercise.

The book promotes the notion that we can, as we age, slow the process of decay by better eating and better exercising. I’ve always been a good at exercising, and the heart monitor is helping me do it better. And I can always be a better eater, less starch, less saturated fat, etc., etc. Easy for me to say after consuming a plate of onion rings after a round of golf yesterday.


It’s quite amusing to see me gear up for a run. There’s the iPod and the earbuds. There’s the heart monitor strapped around my chest, the heart rate sensor on my right wrist along with my Road ID bracelet. There’s the stopwatch on my left wrist. And there’s the water bottle carrier strapped around my waist.

All in the name of better exercising.

All in the name of getting around the sun a 60th time and many more times after that.

All in the name, as my new book suggests, of getting younger next year.