60 is the New Middle Age

I'm a woman of a certain age, and we do not speak of this. I haven't hit the big 6-0 yet, but it is looming. I said something to my husband about being middle-aged, and he quipped, "Really? Do you think you will live to 120?" It was then I realized that I was....old!

I live an active life. The kids are grown, I have more free time after work and on days off, and I like to spend it bicycling with friends. We took a two day tour down the coast a few weekends ago, over big hills and dramatic descents. We stayed in a hotel that used to be a vacation ranch house for William Randolph Hearst. It's kind of funky but cheap and scenic, perfect bike tour qualities. We got our rooms and showered off the day's sweat and grit, (it had been a hard and hilly 80 miles) and as I sat down on the patio overlooking the sunset, with a cold beer and a bowl of salty chips and pretzels, I got a text message from a dear friend. She is a bicyclist, rides maybe 4 or 5 thousand miles a year, and has ridden in dozens of countries. I have been lucky enough to go with her a few times. She wrote that she had bad news. She had been to the doctor and then to a test, the consensus was that she had a cancer of the colon. As I read this, a chill went through me, even though I was sitting in the sun.  There it is again, we are mortal. Even those of us that refuse to age and never slow down, gadding around the globe on bicycles, hiking when we are too sore to ride, eating our fruits and veggies with gusto, resolutely dieting off in spring the pounds we pick up in winter. Even us.

Post script: I started writing this story in October, and now it is February. My friend is okay. She had a big surgery and a rocky recovery, but all is finally well. The tumor was contained, the nodes were negative, all 21 of them. She is back on the bike and planning her next tour: Poland, maybe followed by China. What is the take home message? Live each day like it could be your last, or at least your last really good one. Start right now. And get a check-up!