What Being 37 Means

I think being 37 means being tired.

It also means giving away your cutest bikinis to your teenaged daughters because they are too "young" for you now.

I think being 37 means being more calm. But it also means staying out later on weeknights in the summer, because you know that summer is fleeting in Michigan.

Being 37, to me, means being unwilling to do things just because others want me to. But it also means that sometimes just because someone else needs or wants me to do things, I may want to.

Being 37 means noticing dark circles under my eyes and a few gray hairs now and again.

It also means not being obsessed with things like that. I'm going to grow old. Sooner rather than later. Time to accept. Thank goodness it is a slow process.

Being 37, in a nutshell, consists of doing a lot of noticing.

A Lot of Changes

I've been saddened this week by the death of two friends' parents. (Dawn, my former sister in law, lost her mother to melanoma, and another friend lost her father in law suddenly).

It's made me think how shallow it was to complain about turning 37. How many people would give anything to be 37 again, with so much of life before them? How many people want years back that they'll never have again? I'm in good health, I have two beautiful, smart, happy daughters, a great career, a beautiful home, the best siblings a girl could have, and a heck of a lot of time to do things that I like to do (reading!). I can travel if I feel like it, it is summertime in Michigan (the best time of year to be here), and I have wonderful, dear friends who are like family to me. I have the best years of my life ahead of me- just think of the things I can look forward to! Grandchildren, bike rides, the frogs coming back to the frog pond, watching my many nieces and nephews grow. I am lucky to be 37.