Birthday Thoughts

Yesterday I turned another year older. Ugh! Now at 61, I am starting to have thoughts about retiring. Thanks to Pres. Bush, people of my age group are having to work even longer before drawing Social Security and if he doesn't quit screwing the American people, I won't have any Soc. Sec. after paying into it since I took my first job at age 15.
Don't get me wrong, I am not ready to retire and sit on my duff every day doing nothing. But it would be nice to be able to slow down and enjoy my last years on earth. I can't forsee this in the near future, so best I quit griping and get on with it.
It is a real eye opener to know that I am on the "downward" side of my life. I have never been one to dwell on dying, but I do notice that there are an awful lot of men dying in their 70's. Ugh, again!! That means that I may only have 15 to 20 years left. I find that I look at cemetery plots with a whole different attitude, and my wife and I have finally settled on which cemetery and where we want our plots to be located. Not quite ready to make that purchase yet, though.
At this age, there are some benefits, though. We can eat off the "senior menu" and also get an extra 10% off if we go on Tuesday nights. I get 10% off of coffee at a local "drive thru" any time and we can attend the movies on certain nights at a savings.
My students asked me how old I was on my birthday. I was honest, and told them. Their gut reaction was "boy is that old," but some were gracious enough not to say so. Others just let 'er rip. I took it all good naturedly. One of my coworkers baked me a cake, and others on the second floor stopped in for cake and well wishes. I got to figuring it up and I think I am the oldest staff member in our school. But that's okay. I am still able to keep up with the students, even a step ahead of them. Any maybe some of the younger staff can learn somethings from my experiences.
At home, I like to tell myself that I can still do everything I could do when I was 21. Just not as often, and it takes me longer. All this aside, life is still good!