A Milestone Reached

No prizes for guessing what the milestone was. But I have to share with you my joy at reaching it. There is a great sense of achievement  for lasting this long. In the above photo I'm smiling at my closest friends and family who are gathered in the family room to sing happy birthday to me. 

Happy it was, all the more because I didn't know if I'd be allowed to have this party until a couple of weeks ago. Victoria Australia,  where we live, went into an emergency lockdown for five days and then after that visitor numbers were severely restricted. However they lifted just in time for my birthday and I was able to celebrate.

I made the cake and it looks very homemade, but I don't care. I just don't have a sense of wanting to pressure myself to live up to anything anymore. I feel perfectly happy with having a go and doing my best and being just fine with the outcome.  The cake tasted great by the way. Can you tell how much cream I piled in the center. I also dumped a bowl full of pink icing on top so that it would dribble artistically down the sides. It did dribble but not so artistically. 

Being sixty feels great. A sense of striving, that has been with me for as long as I can remember, has lifted. School is done. Raising a family is done. Publish a book? I've done it. Getting married again is done. It's as if from now on it's all bonus time. What would I like to do? Whatever I feel like. I don't have to do anything but I will, because whatever I choose to do will be rewarding for me.   

My hair has been shorn by yours truly during our lockdowns and it won't stay in the style I blow wave it into but hey, I think it looks alright. It's clean and I have a big smile, hugging my gorgeous husband and feeling like life is really good.  I'm feeling very grateful for the rich experience my life has been and I'm sure will continue to be. Getting older feels like a privilege and I'm making the most of it.