Dale Says

April 24, 2006

On my birthday, I’m 55 years old.

At 55, I see life as half full. The past couple of years have been among the happiest of my life. I’m very pleased with our lives, our families and friends, and our home. Most of all, I’m very grateful to have Patty in my life. She helps me be more than I would otherwise be, and she steers me to a more positive place in my life.

I find that at this point in my life I am faced with an incredible opportunity. Two-and-a-half years ago I was laid off from the corporate world, and I am now working on my own as a free-lance writer and editor. It’s exciting and rewarding, and all-in-all it’s coming along just fine.

Mid-50s in general has had the usual ups and downs, and doubts and uncertainties that seem to accompany middle age. I’m trying to deal with it by focusing on the positive things in my life, and learning to deal with the negative.

Patty and I were both “down-sized” from the corporate world. Combined, we worked 39 years for a well-known global company, which rewarded our loyalty and commitment by prematurely ending our employment. Fortunately for us, they sent us packing with enough of severance package that we are able to get through to second careers, and hopefully to retirement.

At this age, we – along with most of our friends – are dealing with the anguish of aging parents. We lost Patty’s dear mommy in 2000, and her father last year, and we are learning how to deal with a world without them. My father is very bad with Parkinson’s and lives in a nursing home.

Physically, middle age is beginning to have an effect. It takes just a little longer to get going each morning, and I’m a little sorer after working in the garden. But I can still do just about anything I want, and can still push myself, so I’m learning how to deal with physical exertions.

I find that travel refreshes me. Each trip we take we meet friendly people and find terrific new places to explore, and we continually re-discover that we live in a wonderful world.

In the news, there is general unrest in the world, and lots of bad news in the newspaper each day. The world is trying to figure out how to deal with despots, and how to handle differences of opinion without killing one another. We’re also trying to figure out how to keep from destroying ourselves through nuclear war or global warming. And perhaps most urgently, we’re trying to figure out how to fulfill a relentlessly increasing demand for oil.