Dearest Marge and Maddie,
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| What, me worry? :) |
Daddy has officially been forty years old for sixteen days
now.
A wee bit late perhaps for a birthday post like i usually do
in these here parts. But hey, better late now than even much later down, right?
Obviously, there is much to share on an occasion like one's fortieth birthday. (Incidentally,
your mom also turned forty recently. Twenty six days ago, to be exact.)
Ever hear that life supposedly "starts at 40"? Well,
i'm here to tell you that that is absolute crap. Truth is, life begins when one
starts breathing. And life just keeps going on as you do. It honestly does not
feel any different between being forty years old, and the couple of years or so
before that. "Life begins at 40" is said by people who finally
realize they are officially no longer young, and have got to get up and going
and trying out the things they've always wanted before they kick their
proverbial bucket. Probably because they haven't dared to live their lives a
lot sooner like they should have.
So i'm now forty years old.
I tell that to myself from time to time for the past couple
of weeks. Sometimes, i find myself sad. But mostly, i actually find myself
feeling like my heart could burst with the happy sounds, textures and colors, and
all the gratitude at how not-so-screwed-up my life has so far been. Sometimes,
i take stock of life so far, and i find myself fighting back a joyful teardrop
or two.
I have two beautiful children (so far), and a loving, strong
and eternally beautiful wife whom i could provide properly for. We have a new
house that has let me sow my architectural oats and is almost done, i have my
own happily struggling (yet happily afloat) little office where i can become
writer, artist, teacher and so much more. I now have a firm place in a strong
family business, a handful of real friends who have stuck with me through so
much, and some even as long as thirty years and going strong. And to top it all
off, i finally get to play saxophone (and sometimes sing) at various places
nowadays.
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| Forty with a sax is cool. No, wait... sax is cool. period. :) |
So
if they keep telling me that "life begins at 40," then what the heck
does one call the funny, crazy, exciting, adventurous, and sometimes dramatic
story that i have lived so far? Sure sounds like life to me. And a wonderful
one at that.
Thank you, girls, for being among what have made my life
wonderful so far.
So before i wrap this post up, let me end it with a bit of
advice from a happy forty year-old: one does not get to be a happy forty
year-old by being too afraid to try new things out, too weak to hold on to
things that truly matter, too lazy to work for what one wants, and too bitter about
what one doesn't have to be grateful for what one DOES have. Don't wait. Just live.
Now.
Love,
Dad
P.S. Belated happy birthday to me. Indeed. :)
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