Recently, one member of our family had a Zero Birthday. The family all gathered, and we had a wonderful evening to celebrate this special event. It wasn’t just another birthday, it was a Zero Birthday. It deserved special treatment.
We all seem to measure our lives by Zero Birthdays.
- At One and Zero, you’ve made it to the fifth grade and you’re not a baby anymore. You’ve become more confident of your likes and dislikes. You have friends, and you have fun. You’re doing more important chores that really help at home. Sometimes, the stories you imagine yourself are better than to ones you see on TV. You’re starting to learn that you are better at some things and worse at others.
- At Two and Zero, you’re not quite legal, but almost. The trauma of teenage years seem a distant memory, and you’ve developed a much better sense of yourself. You’ve moved away from home and consider yourself independent. You’re starting to realize that you might not have all the answers. You’ve just noticed that your parents suddenly seem to be getting a lot smarter.
- At Three and Zero, you know you’re a real adult, whatever that is. You’ve faced, made, and are making a number of life-defining choices, e.g. marriage, parenthood, education, career, location, and friends. You’ve got more choices to make, but you are comfortable making them. You know that there are people that really count on you. Life is very engaging, but can be very frenetic.
- At Four and Zero, you wonder if you’re starting to get ‘old’ because you’re no longer thirty-something. You’ve gotten to know yourself pretty well and are becoming comfortable with that picture. If you have teenagers, you are learning what wallpaper feels like, ever present but ignored. Your career is now defined, and you have achieved a few distinctions and bruises in the process. You are making more than you had planned, but you wonder if you are peaking. You measure yourself, probably too harshly, and wished you had attained more. Some friends always seem to be able to be doing more. Other friends have fallen away, but you know a select few will hang with you forever.
- At Five and Zero, the wrinkles in the mirror are sending you the message that the clock keeps ticking. You really don’t feel ‘old’, but you know that the jump in your step isn’t quite as bouncy. You’ve felt the sting of college tuitions, and the shock that your former teenagers are talking to, rather than at, you and are listening for your answer. Your kids act like they are adults, even though you picture them at age ten, or two. You’re ‘established’ in your community and have felt the joys of many achievements. You are reaping the fruits of your career, both positive and negative.
- At Six and Zero, you’re worried about this looming specter called retirement. Have you saved enough, and more importantly, what will you DO? You’re very engaged in a number of activities, and your daily schedule has many facets to it. You can’t imagine loosing that diversity, so you push it out of your mind. Your greatest delight is the arrival of grandchildren. You notice that the wrinkles have become deeper, and a couple of gray hairs have appeared in your eyebrows. You’ve decided to ignore the latest technical gizmo and have dismissed it as trivial. You’re learning the first names of a few new doctors.
- At Seven and Zero, you assume you’ll be offered the senior discount without asking for it. You’re not an ‘elder’, but you’re definitely a ‘senior’. You’ve begun to notice that younger people dismiss you, with kindness, or simply ignore you. You’re starting to think more and more about the big questions of life and living, and suddenly the questions seem to have become simpler, the answers more obvious. You know you are now officially ‘old’, and you know that your bones get stiff and creak where they never did. Your memory skills may not have ebbed, but you treat them as if they did. You hear the clock ticking more loudly in your mind.
- At Eight and Zero, you celebrate having made this milestone. Haven’t had the experience, so only conjecture is possible, but you must start hearing the word ‘elderly’ more and more. If you’re not committed to a certain amount of regular physical exercise, you’ll start overhearing the word, ‘frail’, when others nearby are conversing. Time for health maintenance activities has to take up more of your day.
- At Nine and Zero, ????
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March 5th, 2010 at 5:12 pm
I see myself in this post, though I haven’t hit seven and zero and already get the senior discount without asking for it. I looked through some other posts and particularly liked your thoughts on adaptability. wisewellsenior.blogspot.com