Tomorrow starts my birthday month, and it’s the month in which I turn 50 years old.
Fifty. The big 5-0.
When I was young that seemed so old.
Now that I’m 3 weeks away, I know it is actually pretty young.
And yet, growing up, I’d see actors on TV and they’d look old. Case in point, to the left is a picture of Carroll O’Connor, who famously portrayed Archie Bunker in the 1970s hit tv show “All in the Family,” as well as actress Jean Stapleton who played his wife, Edith. This picture is from about 1974, when he was 50 years old and she 51. They look old. When I was a kid watching “All in the Family” they seemed VERY old.
Conversely, on the recent live broadcast event where remade an episode of the show, they cast Woody Harrelson to play Archie. Harrelson is 57 years old. And looks younger than Carroll O’Connor. Marissa Tomei, portraying Edith, is 55 years old and even with the wig and glasses still looks younger than Jean Stapleton did.
Why is that? How is that? Do young kids today see Harrelson and Tomei and see oldsters? Is it all about the perspective and perception of the young?
I have young parents – when I was 13 I believe they were 33 and 35, respectively (ETA: my mother corrected me to say that while they were young, they weren’t that young: they were 35 and 37, respectively, when I was 13). I thought they were old. When I gave birth to CootieGirl at age 33, I felt young. I WAS young!
And heading into 50 years old next month, I still feel young. I have mentioned many times that I feel that my development arrested at 27 when I got married. To this day when I am in a room with 40, 50 and 60 year olds I still feel like I mistakenly left the kids table and stumbled into a chair at the adult table and will be asked to leave at any moment. At no time do I feel I should be taken seriously by anyone when I’m a large group of other adults.
That’s not to say I’m sad or upset about turning 50. Quite the opposite – I’m happy I have reached this milestone because at some point in my early 20s when I was sowing some particularly wild oats I wasn’t so sure I’d ever make it to 30 much less 50. I acknowledge now that driving 6+ hours followed by dancing for 12-15 hours followed by another 6+ hour drive back was probably not the safest behavior in which one could engage, even if it was a car full of people and the house music was pumping loudly from the stereo during the round trip (but man, was it ever fun).
Now? Ten minutes into a long drive and, unless I’m driving, my nap has already begun. Hey, maybe I am old after all!
Friends have asked if I am having a big party, and the answer to that is a resounding no. Despite being a milestone, birthdays in general aren’t a big deal to me, so I’ll be spending the bulk of my birthday in the car heading to a family weekend in Pigeon Forge, TN. We’ve booked a cute little house off the main strip and will spend the weekend listening to the kids gripe about having to go on vacations to places they don’t like, but then on the ride home a few days later they’ll begrudgingly admit they had a good time.
That’s how I’ll be spending my birthday weekend. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.
CB already told me tonight, while his friends were online, that he can’t believe his parents are making him go to a place that no one else likes with nothing to do on vacation. And I told him, he loved it the last time he was there, and he swore he did not. Sure. We will all have a great time. Happy 50th. And I think people take better care of themselves these days, that’s why people of the same age don’t look as old as those from 30 or 40 years ago. And actors especially take better care of themselves. Pigeon Forge, here we come!!!!
This is the note I made after our trip there for one day last year: “Upon arriving home we all agreed we had a good day, and while CB isn’t inclined to go back, CG said she’d be up for a longer visit in the future – which we just might do!” So there’s some truth to his statement that he didn’t like Pigeon Forge, but I do think it’s because of his CVS kicking in when we got to the parking lot of The Island. I think it helps that this time around we’re driving up the evening before and getting settled into the house we rented, so I don’t think his CVS will kick in this time around – especially since we have meds this time.