 kmccarthy, Tue, April 14th, 2009 We've been talking about this half-century mark since the calendar turned to show us that while our names may still end in childish "y"s, we're hitting the big 5-0 this year. Crap. I think we're putting off a decision about where to celebrate as a way of hiding from it! But two friends took the bull by the horns and organized their own events and so, during the first weekend in April, Chris and I went to not one, but two different 50th birthday celebrations, both in New York City. Cammy and her husband had a party for about 30 people in an upstairs room at a nice restaurant on the Upper West Side, Cammy's neighborhood since she moved to the city 27 years ago. The party-goers represented a nice cross-section of her life: her brother, in-laws, and friends from grade school, high school, college, work, and her children's school. We met up with our friend Uli from Germany the next day, celebrating his 50th with an American holiday, joined by his girlfriend and his 17-year-old twin sons. We had been two of five roommates in what we referred to as "the commune" 27 years ago. We celebrated his birthday at a much more upscale brunch than any of the places we'd hung out as students. Whenever I'm with old friends, I might notice for a minute that hair color (or amount of hair!) is slightly different, or a face may look a little more lined than it once did. But quickly, I only see dear friends as they were in the days when we had nothing but time to spend together. My closest friends are from my 20s; at 50, we are closer to retirement than those carefree days of our youth. Great incentive to stay healthy: to once again have time to while away together. So share some ideas: how have you celebrated significant milestones? CATEGORY: General Society
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