Big landmark birthdays are exciting. They’re also scary. Each one marks a passage of time. Each one gives us an opportunity to reflect on where our life has gone. We also get the chance to look ahead to the future. See…told you it was scary.

Usually, the milestone birthday numbers end with a zero. Here’s how it goes:

10: You’re no longer a little kid. You’ve entered the two-number club. Is that a real thing or is it something I made up at that age to hold over my younger siblings?

20: That’s it for the teenage years. You’re not quite an adult but it’s getting close. Damn, close. Too damn close!

30. Remember the saying ‘never trust anyone over thirty? Yeah, right.

40: Middle age! That’s provided you’re lucky enough to make it to eighty. Not everyone does.

50: The age you realize and reluctantly accept that your body doesn’t work the same way it did when you were twenty. You may try to get it there but it won’t work.

60: You aren’t middle age anymore. You think you still are but you’re just fooling yourself. You also aren’t quite a senior citizen…except for discounts at the movies and McDonald’s. Your lifestyle is a bit of both.

70: I haven’t quite figured this one out yet because I still have a few months left to go. June 11th will be my lucky day.

Most of my landmark birthdays have been a breeze. For the most part, they’ve been just another day in the game of life. Well. except for my fortieth when I spent the entire day pouting in my bedroom. I’m still trying to figure out how they let me get away with that.

But, I admit this upcoming number scares me somewhat. Okay, more than somewhat. There’s one word that describes this fear….mortality.

Let’s face it, turning seventy is just another reminder that it’s closer to the end than the beginning. I realize that it’s been that way for a couple of decades, but now it’s definitely closing in and moving fast. Maybe not at fast as the expiration date on a carton of milk, but it’s now close enough to acknowledge it without people laughing at you or rolling their eyes.

However, what seventy really is is another reminder to get your life together enough to try to accomplish the things you’ve always wanted to do. The Bucket List may be cliche, but that doesn’t make it less true. It’s also a reminder to spend time with the people you love and to tell them that often. Remember to be grateful for what you have. Remember to be grateful that you’re still here.

Hell, you don’t have to be turning seventy to be reminded of all of that, but it does help.

Phew….I’ll tell you that all of this is a lot. Good thing I still have exactly five months to get ready for the next landmark day. Until then, I’m happy being sixty-nine. Nice.

Related Post: Does it suck to have your birthday on Mother’s Day?

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