LIFE IS GOOD AFTER FIFTY

And we should know.

As of today, August 16^th, 2020, the three sisters of The Sister Lode are officially fifty years old or older. Suzanne celebrated her 50^th birthday today, and, as much as we could, we helped her.  Her initial hopes of spending it on an exotic beach were reduced to a day in our backyard above-ground pool. In the end, those hopes were dashed, too. There wasn’t even any sand, and, we didn’t even get wet today. We were ready, though. Ready with our respective spirit animals of the sea, and they had to huddle together to fight the storm.

The rain started with just a few drops,

then storms rolled in around noon.

The clouds lingered. When it did warm up, the pool water was too cold, so Suzanne found a dry spot inside Gail’s whale/narwhal.

Our friends Bonnie and Judy showed up again, just as they did a few posts ago. They were ready to celebrate, too. These sisters were dressed to the nines again, but didn’t bring their suits, so they took a quick float on my seahorse.

Suzanne’s love of mermaids became the theme for the weekend, but the overriding theme was that age is indeed a gift. Fifty may sound old until you get there, and we have decided separately and together that life is indeed good, no matter what the age.

It’s always Fifty-o’clock somewhere.

I resurrected my Life is good® T-shirt from my birthday four years ago to further the festive mood,

and Gail reminisced about her epic 60^th birthday party in February. She, too, wore one of her many Life is good® shirts, as this is one of our favorite ways to share the love.

Suzanne’s daughter made the short trip to join us, she is always a welcome smiling face.

We enjoyed family and plenty of good food, and, of course, good porch-sitting.

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Each of us has an affinity for separate sea creatures, forming them independent of each other. This tells me that a part of each of us belongs to the beach, and we hope to find one again soon.

Suzanne loves mermaids because, if one had the power to escape to places where few would follow like these mythical creatures can, she thinks that would be fabulous.

Gail loves whales because they are a powerful presence to be reckoned with. She doesn’t fully realize it, but so is she—in a very good way.

I love seahorses because they are unique creatures in several ways. The male gives birth, and they are known to swim vertically as well as horizontally.   I like to think I don’t always follow the “normal” patterns in life when I find a way that works better for me.

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Last time I posted, I wrote that as long as we have the power to change a situation, we should never lose hope. None of us can change the pandemic situation that is dictating the new rules, but we must do our part. We decided to wait until perhaps her 51^st birthday to try for the beach getaway. It doesn’t matter when, celebrating safely is always a good idea.

We are holding on to that hope, because we are doing our part.

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Happy Birthday Suzanne. Life is indeed good.

Whenever your birthday is, happy birthday to you, too. And never forget that age is a gift.