It was my birthday last week. If you're interested in just how old I am, I'm calling this my "Heinz" year. Queen Elizabeth II was crowned on my birthday. My name was supposed to be "Elizabeth". Nothing like starting life off on the wrong foot before you're aware that you have feet. So I was named for the Archbishop of Canterbury instead. Quick thinking on Dad's part.
It's funny. I don't feel that different from the way I did when I turned say, 26 or even 18. But there are things that I just can't plain do or want to do anymore that date from those more youthful days. Good thing, I guess, as many of them are (and were) illegal.
I look in the mirror and see the same face I've been staring at all these years. It's a bit more wrinkled, grayer, and more bald. I've got a bit of a paunch and "spare tire", but basically I'm in pretty decent shape. I can still ride my bike to work, and have good workouts at the gym.
My kids are young adults now. They are ready to make their marks in the world. They now have tools that were beyond my conceptual grasp when I was their age, but here I'm using one of them now. They take these things as a "given". More power to them!
The world is indeed shrinking, and maybe, just maybe, their generation will truly understand what my generation has utterly failed to grasp; that we are part of a global society, and that one person can make a small difference for the betterment of someone else if they keep thinking that way.
Abby has returned from her second trip to Ghana, where she handed out a bunch of second-hand childrens' books collected from our friends and neighbors. The picture of her with the kids at "her" school in Hohoe is priceless.
Nat is probing the intricacies of cell biology. He is interested in gene therapy of "orphan" diseases. Here's another thing that in my 20's I never thought was possible. He's now doing it.
So on my "Heinz" anniversary, I am content with the knowledge that so far I've done pretty well. Not a bad birthday present for any age these days.
Sunday, June 13, 2010
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