Last 500 Days of My Fifties
5/12/2023 - 9/22/1964
I'm in my late 50's. I was born in 1964, the last year of the Baby Boomers.
The year before I turned 50, I wanted to do something special to commemorate my last year in my 40's. On or about my 49th birthday I was with my family visiting the elks in Elk Grove Village. Elk Grove Village is a suburb of Chicago located near O'Hare airport, It is where I grew up and where my parents lived until very recently. There is a forest preserve in Elk Grove that extends into neighboring towns like Schaumburg. Ever since I was a kid there has been a herd of Elk maintained by the Forest Preserve in Elk Grove.
As my family watched the elk, an idea came to me. I could write a limerick, and post it on Facebook every day until I turned 50. I wasn't completely successful in my quest, but I do believe that I wrote and posted over 300 limericks over that time period. Why limericks? I never did figure that one out, but I think I owe a lot of the personal poetry renaissance I have been going through the last 15 months due to my year of limericks.
As my mid 50's turned into my late 50's I have been thinking how to celebrate the last part of my 6th decade. No "elks" moment has hit me and I'm not sure my FB friends want a year of haikus or anything like that.
A couple of months ago an idea came to me that instead of having some special activity, I could just be more purposely reflective during the time. I decided since my 50's were ending that I could perhaps extend the year to 500 days. So starting tomorrow I find myself in the last 500 days of my 50's.
Today is May 11th so that means that there are 20 full days left in the month. There are 30 days in June, 31 in July and August and 22 days before my birthday in September. That's 134 days before my birthday. There are usually 365 days in a year, but 2024 is a leap year so there are 366 days from September 23rd, 2023 and September 22nd 2024. Some may wonder why I don't count until September 23rd, my birthday. The answer, of course, is because that will be the first day of my 60's.
So, what do I plan to do with this time period that 1150% greater than Lent? First of all, give it up for Lent, it's a great religious observance, and it doesn't get nearly the credit it deserves. I'm not sure really. I think what I'll do is when I'm reflecting on my adventures in ageing, or perhaps doing something for the last time in my 50's I might blog about it here. But mostly I'll do what I encouraged my 11 year old future sister in law to do 8 years before I courted her sister, and that is cherish the time.
In the Bible we are encouraged to number our days. By delineating the last 500 days in my 50's I am inviting myself to live purposely. It is of course very possible that I publish this post and then regular life and my ADHD conspire that I never think about it again. This is part of the reason why I'm publish posting this on my blog and on Facebook so I do pay attention during these final days of my fifties.
Dear Facebook friends, this doesn't mean that there will be no more limericks. It just means I'm commemorating the end of this decade differently than I did the last. In fact, I think I feel a limerick coming on now:
I really thought it would be nifty
To write a limerick a day 'til I was fifty,
The days in my fifties are numbered
I only have left 500.
I'll live them up, cause the will end swiftly.
