Getting older ... really? The years seem to be passing rapidly, and I find age to be a formidable foe. The one think I know about getting older is that you can look back and have more perspective every passing year.

So, time to look back at the decades .. how life looked to me:

Twenties

When I turned 20, The world was my oyster. I was in college, had a good part-time job, and felt good about were I was headed. I guess what I didn’t know was the very thing that made 20 so great. It was in my 20’s when I met my wife, had our 1st children, and went back to school. In your 20’s you have more energy .. it’s a good thing.

Thirties

Thirty was a crushing birthday. This was when I realized I was getting older and life was not going to wait for me. I was depressed for days. At some point, and I don’t remember when, I just owned it.

Forties

Over the hill ... break out the black. Everyone has fun when their BFF turns 40. It’s was the beginning of a great decade. Thirty something is good, but forty something was great. It’ was that age when things start to feel like they may work out. The kids were getting older .. driving, becoming adults (kind of). They were certainly costing more, but I felt like it was going to be ok.

Fifties

Now this is when aging must start. I think I felt my first signs of aging on my 50th Birthday. Half a century... that is a crazy thought. At 50, many of us have lived over half our life time. But the golden years are yet to come. For many, finances seen better sometime in this 10 year window.

Sadly, I lost my Mom in my 40’s and my Dad in my 50s. The death of a parent changes a person, or at least it changed me. That was most true when my father passed away. He was 86, I was 59.

Sixties

I hit sixty this year. Before I learned I had prostate cancer, I was so dreading 60. There is something about coming fact to face with mortality that puts age in perspective. Suddenly 60 did not seem old, and I recharged. Grandchildren started 8 years ago, but now we are really at the age where we enjoy them more every day. They are special, and they remind us about what’s important in life (for us anyway).

Seventy

I’m not ready to talk about 70 or 80 .. I’ll have to add this chapter later.

In the end, this is what I value .. all of them:

Getting old? What’s all this age stuff anyway