"Happy 57th Birthday!," Charlie bellowed.
When I married Charlie, I was 19 years of age. Still, it was the best thing that ever happened to me. But now, I feel old and tired. I do not recall feeling old at my 56th birthday, and this birthday came with a surprise at how strange I view the difference between 56 and 57. Somedays I feel like I have run into a brick wall now that I'm 57. It’s like I have passed over some invisible marker. Although my energy is about the same, I feel much older. In horse racing terms, I'm nearing the quarter pole.
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57--What is it about 57?
My first car was a 1957 Chevy, a classic! "Classic" is a word used to describe something like cars that were not quite an antique. Maybe that thinking was the key between my age and the feelings that I suddenly was experiencing. I expect to live until I am 80 years, if everything goes right. I plan on working part-time as long as I can, hopefully until I reach 75.
Now I realize I could die tomorrow, as I have survived a number of close calls, including an electrocution (with water mixed in, no less), being run over by a car and hitting a car when cycling, a stroke, numerous seizures, and a heart condition. I have several pieces of hardware I've picked up over the years, including a pacemaker, and pins for my hip just recently. But, still, I consider myself to be in very good shape, for an old man. I'll sometimes complain about my age to Mom, whose age is 87 — I think she gets a kick out of it when I do that because she always laughs.
What REALLY important in my life? If you asked me in the past, I would have said my family is the most important. Now, even the family takes too much energy from me as I've pared down the relationships that became abusive. Having the energy to make it through each day is important to me.
One lesson is having less stuff to sort or take care is a quick way to having more energy. The less stuff you have in the house, the easier is to clean. The less stuff and clutter you have in the garage, the easier is to deal with.
One afternoon, I think it was at Thanksgiving, when our two daughters were over, I inquired what they would do with the family photos. I intended to pawn some of the photos off. But the horrified expression that the daughters gave told all I needed to know; it would be a disservice to put the job off on them.
My coin collection, books, granddad's WW1 postcards, and grandpa’s hand-carved animals I have given to my daughters. However, my college writings, my parent's keepsakes, my kindergarten certificate of completion, my pieces of my uniform from my Boy Scout days, clothes, suites, tools, antique tools, fishing stuff, books, CDs and albums have gone to Goodwill, been given away or gone in the trash. If I cannot display an item, I do something with it. I am proud of the empty shelves in my closet.
I continue to look in ways that I can downsize. I like the echo in the house.
As such, my wife and I have been planning of our eventual infirmary, remodeling our entire house while we can still orchestrate it. Our house was built in 1965, a quaint 3 bedroom, 1.5 bathroom, and 2 car garage. We bought the house in 1981 with the idea that the lot was big enough to build a shop in the back yard for my air-conditioning business. That never did happen, but that was the plan. Now that our children have moved out and are living their own lives, I'm glad we didn't build a bigger house that would have required more maintenance.
My wife and I are currently living in a cheap motel this month while our bathroom is being rebuilt to be handicap friendly and wheelchair accessible. In October, we contracted for a new electrical panel and circuit breakers, upgrading from a 60 to 200 ampere panel. In March, the house foundation was leveled which involved placing 8 additional piers, pressed down 17 feet underneath the footing of the house. We have already completed the remodel of the kitchen and laundry room this year, including rebuilding the back wall and a new door, adding a window, new floor, sheetrock, texture and paint. Due to foundation issues, I had to patch cracks, texture and paint the living room, hallway and the master bedroom. There are two other bedrooms I had previously completed, including taking down and replacing the sheetrock on the exterior walls to allow additional insulation and air sealing. The windows were replaced in 2015. We have still to replace the roof, repaint the outside, and build a front deck with a wheelchair ramp. Although, I'm am still relatively safe working with painting, sheetrocking and texturing, I am not safe doing the outdoor painting, so I'll have to get a contractor.
After the bathroom remodel is over, I have to have a job to pay for it. Maybe I can finish that joyful task before I reach 65!