Jim Dickens April 2026
My niece, Kirsten, came to stay last weekend. She’s 40 years old and said it was awesome. In her late 30’s she dreaded that milestone. It turned out she was doing great and surprisingly it was freeing to be 40. Sometimes you don’t even see the milestone coming. When I turned 55, I realized I was closer to 60 than 50 and middle age was distant in the rearview mirror. So 55 was the milestone that hit not 50 or 60.
It’s interesting how a milestone can just appear and bring out strong emotions. Well recently I just had one and it wasn’t positive. I received my Medicare card in the mail. It hit me that I am no longer just older but old.
You can say, age is a state of mind. Or just keep moving. Or there are still many quality days left. But, the measurements don’t lie. Physically, I am much weaker, slower and less stable. For medicare people who say that isn’t true for them, well I bet they didn’t try too hard in their youth. Mentally, I’m not measuring much but if I did, I wouldn’t be surprised to have a similar decline.
Not all milestones are age related. I think of the day my oldest child was dropped off at college or the day my youngest got married. Those milestones hit unexpectedly hard emotionally. I am often surprised when they hit because I haven’t heard from others about it or haven’t thought it through.
It will be interesting to see how I deal with turning 65 and whether I find a freeing outlook like my niece.
R1T Tour 