Gestation

284 days

until Sunday September 08 2013

a Sunday 9 months and 11 days from today

I will turn sixty!

And then what?  Well, right now (on November 29, 2012) I am wearing a back brace from a ridiculous accident earlier in August that I may or may not provide the details on.  My husband (61) is going for yet another blood test and then who knows so he can return to work --- or not, before the end of the year.  My 27 year old daughter is flying back to San Diego to begin her first day in a "real job" in the profession that she has studied and worked towards for the past college and graduate years.  One of our dogs is on very expensive maintenance meds, after we spent nearly $8,000 earlier this year saving his life from some as of yet unidentified immune deficiency disease, that he will probably need for the rest of his life.  We all survived two Thanksgivings this year (Thursday and then a Friday repeat for step children and their families) without much obvious drama.  And we (my husband and I) are dedicating the next year to determine where we are going at this stage in our lives (eg., downsize, follow the kids, go back to work...).

So I have 9 months and 11 days to prepare for my 60th birthday.  As it happens it is a gestation period. I hope to use this time to develop and nurture who I intend to be in my "senior" years.  That is why I label the next five years as "endolescence."  It IS the other side of adolescence.  When you are an adolescent your head and your body are going through changes in anticipation of adult life.  Now I am an "endolescent" experiencing and appreciating both physical and emotional changes in anticipation of senior life (I have arbitrarily decided that "senior" is anything post 65 years).

I am throwing out these thoughts into the ether of the internet for any and all or no one to see.  Just hoping that my own writings will help me use this time wisely (by my own definition) and prepare me for ways to appreciate the next stage of my life.