Weekly Writing Challenge - Golden Years

JUST A NUMBER

For this week’s writing challenge, we’re asking you to explore what age means to you. Is the the loss of youth, or the cultivation of wisdom? Do things get better as you grow older, or worse? There are many ways to interpret age, often depending on your relationship with the passing of time.

For my response to this challenge I circle back to a prevailing thought that demarcates my life in two parts: the years prior to January 8th 1997 and the days from then until now. What you may ask had such a dominating force on my life? Could it be graduation from high school or college, a new job, the day I got married or something entirely different?

It was the seminal event that changed my entire perception of age and the importance there in. I had an average childhood, you know what I mean, the type where years were like milestones. Thirteen was a big deal because I achieved the rank of teenager. Sixteen meant I could drive, at eighteen I registered for the draft and got the right to vote.

But with the good milestones came the ones not so coveted, like turning thirty. I can remember when I was younger thinking thirty was so old. Something like middle age and even though I wanted to achieve the plateaus that allowed freedoms, I dreaded this magical number. I dreaded it so much that I was a royal hind end when it came and whined incessantly about it.

But that was in 1995. As you may remember from above my important date was january 8th, 1997. This was the date my only sibling, Kevin, died from ColoRectal Cancer. He was twenty-nine, much too young for the doctors and medical professionals to have considered the type of disease that claimed his life. I already knew life was precious before this, but on that day i learned age is simply a number.

As I tell everyone now birthdays are not something bad. The only alternative is to stop counting or surrender to death. I choose to count as many as I am blessed to celebrate.

Other Golden Year posts:

1. Ilya Fostiy. Amnesia | Crazy Art
2. Ilya Fostiy. Muse | The Bliss of Reality
3. Youth Insults My Intelligence | Bumblepuppies
4. The Illusive FEAR of Getting Old | Musings | WANGSGARD
5. Weekly Writing Challenge: Golden Years | In my world
6. Looking Back (and Traveling) | JGTravels
7. Thoughts on Aging | melissuhhsmiles
8. Yelp for help…… | Obsessive Compulsive Running…….
9. Youth is a B— | The Backwords
10. Riding Into The Sunrise
11. Weekly writing challenge- golden years | A picture is worth 1000 words
12. The Defining Number | Through The Eyes Productions
13. I am not my mother | Twisting Suburbia
14. Weekly Photo Challenge – Perspective | Joe’s Musings
15. Artfully Aspiring
16. Wisdom of a Toddler | Artfully Aspiring
17. I Couldn’t Wait | Fish Of Gold
18. Young or old? Here’s how to tell | The Crayon Files
19. The Elders of Us | Wired With Words
20. Aging with grace and acceptance | Ezhealthcents
21. I’m a Writer, Yes I Am
22. Weekly Writing Challenge: Golden Years | imagination
23. Thirsty thirties | Scent of Rina
24. Weekly Writing Challenge: GOLDEN YEARS | Thinking Languages!
25. Wholehearted living… One day at a time. | masknolonger
26. You’re As Old As You Feel | A Day In The Life
27. Social Media has changed me | The Bohemian Rock Star’s “Untitled Project”
28. Golden Years | Icezine
29. Counting The Scars/ Weekly Writing Challenge | standinginthestorm
30. Weekly Writing Challenge: The Golden Years | Mirth and Motivation
31. Fearless Youth | the intrinsickness
32. Golden Years | mnemosynesandlethe
33. Weekly Writing Challenge: Golden Years | MythRider
34. i am always looking | y
35. nobody has said if | y
36. Age is Just a Number | Random Words
37. The Age of a New Season | Mary J Melange
38. Stories From My Mind
39. It is OK, I am here | jessicadafoe
40. We’re Still Aging! | theeyelife
41. Age isn’t defined by a number (unless you’re a minor…). | …Properly Ridiculous…
42. Working Girl | Never Stationary
43. Golden Years (DPChallenge) | Between Madness & Euphoria
44. “Unforgotten” | Cosmic Heroism
45. And Here We Are, Stuck Moving Forward | A Cool Glass of Lemonade
46. Age is Just a Number – – Ha! Age is a Bunch of Numbers! | Once Upon Your Prime. . .
47. Y’alright? | TNT
48. GOLDEN WHAT? | SERENDIPITY
49. Weekly Writing Challenge: Golden Years | KiwiBee’s Chaos
50. A Letter to Myself…(WP weekly writing challenge) | Daily Observations
51. Is there an app for that? | the REmissionary
52. Moving Through the Ages | In the Spaces Between Words and Images
53. The Miracle | Rolbos ©
54. Birthday Muttering & The Space Time Continuum | Unload and Unwind
55. Life is a Terminal Disease, Thank God! | jlaneb
56. Weekly Writing Challenge: Golden Years | Thoughts of an INFP
57. Kids Make the Best Bookies: A Childhood Gambled on God and the Mob | reinventing the event horizon
58. Weekly Writing Challenge: The Nursing Reunion (Golden Years) | Reflections and Nightmares- Irene A Waters (writer and memoirist)
59. 48. EMBRACING TOMORROW | Gateway of Infinite Pathways
60. Weekly Writing Challenge: (Tarnished) Golden Years « cognitive reflection
61. Weekly Writing Challenge: Golden Years | Of Glass & Paper
62. Age is relative… | Hope* the happy hugger
63. here we are, the | y
64. golden years | yi-ching lin photography
65. A master of sugar craft – (passion and destiny) | Travelandfoodworldwide
66. The Defining Number | Through The Eyes Productions
67. DP Challenge -Golden Years | My Other Blog
68. What do age and time really mean? | jenniferannefleming
69. Things Pondered: Life, Aging and the Meaning of It All | Sweet Tea and Poetry
70. Maiden, Mother, Crone: all in one | ALIEN AURA’S BlOG: IT’LL BLOW YOUR MIND!
71. Do you hear what I hear? | the Art of Practice
72. Goodbye my Child | Victoria.K.Gallagher
73. Here’s The Thing About Age (That No One Seems To Know) | Sammi Talk
74. The Blog Farm | Weekly Writing Challenge: The Golden Years
75. It’s Magic ::E.N.Howie’s Motivational Moments
76. Here’s The Thing About Age (That No One Seems To Know) | Sammi Talk
77. Worlds Apart | Apoplectic Apostrophes
78. Death and Suffering: A fear of the Unknown | Thorough and Unkempt
79. The Path | siobhanmcnamara
80. Weekly writing challenge, the Golden years : It’s all Gold, a 95 word story | Challenged for Words
81. Weekly Writing Challenge: Golden Years | Wendy Karasin – Musings of a Boomer
82. Turning 26 | Eclecticfemale’s Blog
83. Teenage years? | Paper Plane Pilots
84. Meaning of age | MamaAsparagus
85. Beauty In A Plastic Age | the TEMENOS JOURNAL
86. The Young Old Lady, Mrs.Thopmson | alifemoment
87. Twenty-seven: The Year of My Death | Schizo Incognito
88. Weekly Writing Challenge: Golden Years: After the Lights Went Out: The Lost Years | Just Be V
89. Wrinkles | The Seminary of Praying Mantis
90. Weekly Writing Challenge: Golden Years | Sarah Alison
91. On Being 22 | motor city blondie
92. Bending God. | thejimmieG
93. If You Could Have Immortality..Would You Take It? | B.Kaotic
94. “HIM” Weekly Writing Challenge | standinginthestorm
95. Weekly Writing Challenge: Perspective Through The Ages | Fit 4 Life, LLC
96. Aging like a fine Wine | C Life, Live Life
97. “Can I See Your ID Please?” | littleladyme
98. Birthday March | accidentallyreflective
99. The Golden Years : Fashion Sense Vs. Fashion Sensibility | The Day After
100. youth | yi-ching lin photography
101. 1. along the hem of | y
     2. Age Illusions and Disillusions: Men and Women Turning Thirty (Weekly Writing Challenge) | Ana Linden
     3. Mourning the end of a Chapter | A Fit and Focused Future
     4. Premiere… | Words ‘n Pics…
     5. Weekly Writing Challenge: Golden Years | The Willows Weeped
     6. A Hand Across the Ages | Toss the Typewriter
     7. That Age Old Question | Life’s Unfiltered Ramblings
     8. You know those giant pill holders? I have one. | poema
     9. The 18th of August 1941 – Germantown, Maryland | Forgotten Correspondence
     10. Things I cannot change | Lesie’s World
     11. The Golden Years | Starting Write Now
     12. A Soundtrack to the Ageing Process | Fun with Depression
     13. Golden Years | Jennifer Paige
     14. The Loss of Youth | adventures in adulting*
     15. Weekly Writing Challenge:Golden Years | Simply about Life
     16. Sorry Stevie | fifty5words
     17. Middle March | Love in the Spaces
     18. Oh No! I’ve Turned Into My Own Mom Parenting A Child Who Is Just Like Me | . . . Furthest Sense
     19. Effectively Ageless | rarasaur
     20. Golden Years | hello from Sandy
     21. Positive(ly) thought(less) | soulfoood
     22. Into the unknown | Colour the moment
     23. Weekly Writing Challenge: Golden Years | Purplesus’ Blog
     24. Age ain’t nothin’ but a number… | The Mrs. Z Files
     25. On Being Where I Am | Imperfect Happiness
     26. The Sociopath At The High School Reunion | Glorious Results Of A Misspent Youth
     27. Maybe Not | Glorious Results Of A Misspent Youth
     28. My own individual, stubborn, uncooperative often self-centered nature that still doubts itself | An Upturned Soul
     29. DP Challenge: How I made myself old | one hundred thousand beats per day
     30. Playing the Generation Game | I’m Drew Llew, how do you do?
     31. Weekly Writing Challenge: Golden Years, 13.03.14 | Markie’s Daily Blog
     32. My Memories – Oops, I Mean Memoirs – Weekly Writing Challenge: Golden Years | writesomethingtoday
     33. I’m Young, Get Over It | Victim to Charm
     34. Centenary Sparkle | litadoolan