Remember when we thought anyone over 30 was old? Yeah, that mindset has changed!

Ken’s 72nd birthday is tomorrow, and while I have not shared all 72 years with him – I have been with him for more than half his life.

Getting older is funny, and truth be told, I’m the one who gets nervous when Ken climbs on the roof, to clean the chimney now. And, it’s me, that wants to hire young men to do the heavy lifting. I’m the one yelling at children to get off my lawn, and It’s me that wants to sit on the deck, take it easy, and not rush into anything. Perhaps — it’s me, and not Ken that is getting old.

Living with Ken has been my great joy. Together, we’ve built a good life, and almost every day, we mention how time flies by. Very often we wonder what the heck we did all day!

Then, I thought of a paragraph from one of my all time favourite books, The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster.

The first time I read it – I remember saying – I aspire!

In my favourite passages, our hero Milo is on a bit of a journey. He is heading for Dictionopolis, and as he passes through Expectations, he lands in the Doldrums where the Lethargarians hang out.

When Milo asks what they do in the Doldrums each day a schedule is put forth. I’m not saying we’re lazy, but this schedule is one Ken and I do enjoy — it is no wonder time flies by.

“There’s lots to do; we have a very busy schedule——
At 8 o’clock we get up, then we spend
From 8 to 9 day dreaming.
From 9 to 9:30 we take our early midmorning nap.
From 9:30 to 10:30 we dawdle and delay.
From 10:30 to 11:30 we take our late early morning nap.
From 11 to 12:00 we bide our time and then eat lunch.
From 1:00 to 2:00 we linger and loiter.
From 2:00 to 2:30 we take our early afternoon nap.
From 2:30 to 3:30 we put off tomorrow what we could have done today.
From 3:30 to 4:00 we take our early late afternoon nap.
From 4:00 to 5:00 we loaf and lounge until dinner.
From 6:00 to 7:00 we dillydally.
From 7:00 to 8:00 we take our early evening nap, and then for an hour before we go to bed at 9:00 we waste time.
As you can see, that leaves almost no time for brooding, lagging, plodding, or procrastinating, and if we stopped to think or laugh, we’d never get anything done.”

Happy Birthday sweetie. I love you. No, don’t get up, I’ve got this!