August is the month of mine and my father’s birthdays. Mine is before his, and he says that I was his birthday present. This year we are blessed to be once again living under the same roof to celebrate these auspicious days together. My father will be 89 years old. He has remarked to me, “You always tell people how old I am!” And I say, “Because Dad, you are so smart, so funny, so lovely that it gives people hope that if they live to be 89 they can be like you.”

People LOVE to know that the elderly can still thrive, even as their bodies become frail, their hearts, minds and spirits can remain intact. This gives us all such hope. I will be turning 61. Believe it or not, I am finding this a MUCH easier birthday than 60. I wonder if any of you found your 60th to be difficult?

For me, I was intensely aware of all that I had not yet done. The unfinished manuscripts. The unfinished projects. The teachings I have been meaning to write. The vlogs I had been meaning to make. Funny enough, this year I am at peace. I am letting my hair go gray, and Dan and Josiah love it and are pleading with me NOT to change it. Silver@sixty I call myself. With a GRIN! Come on life. Let’s LIVE it!

~ Debbie Ecker