BEING FORTY-SOMETHING

Last month I retreated with some wonderful women, three of whom are in their early thirties, and at one point the question was, "What's it like to be in your forties?"

I can't remember what I said exactly, but what I meant was,

 I don't worry so much.

And then, thanks to Pat, I read A THREE DOG LIFE by Abigail Thomas. It's a memoir written by a woman whose husband sustains a head injury that results in his loss of memory. Talk about life-changing.

Anyhow, there's lots of wisdom in this little book, and here's a passage that applies to the "forties" query and some of what I was trying to get across in my response:

"When I was young, the future was where all the good stuff was kept, the party clothes, the pretty china, the family silver, the grown-up jobs. The future was a land of its own, and we couldn’t wait to get there. Not that youth wasn’t great, but it came with disadvantages; I remember the feeling I was missing something really good that was going on somewhere else, somewhere I wasn’t. I remember feeling life passing me by. I remember impatience. I don’t feel that way now. If something interesting is going on somewhere else, good, thank god, I hope nobody calls me. Sometimes it’s all I can do to brush my teeth, toothpaste is just too stimulating."

 Anyone else have thoughts on being whatever age you are?