Sixty Celebrations for Sixty Years

Today's my birthday and I've received so many good wishes from friends and family. Thank you.

In January of this year, I panicked. Oh my word! I was going to turn 60 years old in July. My first thought - IMPOSSIBLE! After I got over the shock and the older image in the mirror, I decided to embrace this birthday as a momentous occasion. My husband took this photo of me outside today. So, picture me smiling as I offer up 60 reasons (in no particular order) why these 60 years have been the BEST! (I've listed only 60, but there are many, many more!)

1. 60 years of discovery
2. a childhood that was safe and nurturing
3. a stay-at-home Mom who sewed and cooked
4. a father who gardened and taught me canasta, cribbage and euchre
5. a home library, school libraries and the bookmobile – 60 years of books and reading
6. summers at my Grandmother’s home in Pittsfield, MA
7. playing croquet on Uncle Emil’s backyard hill
8. riding my bike for hours and miles – still today!
9. planting and harvesting vegetables and flowers
10. canning and freezing, making jams and jellies
11. corn-on-the-cob, butterscotch pie, watermelon and homemade potato salad
12. making gooseberry pies with Aunt Freeda and collecting eggs from the hens
13. swinging from the hayloft and hiding in fields with Chuck, Anne and David
14. holiday celebrations with family and friends
15. reunions and picnics, sleepovers and parties
16. collecting fossils and minerals, rocks and gems
17. attending the prom (one is enough!)
18. college and post grad studies where ideas and innovation were valued
19. working as a Nanny for one summer and making five lifetime friends
20. body-surfing
21. 18 years of teaching grades K, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, & 7
22. students who taught me the most important lessons of life
23. 36.5 years of marriage to Ted – a kind and PATIENT man
24. a mother and father-in-law who are honorable and generous with time and love
25. making mince meat pies (and eating them) with my father-in-law Elmer
26. long walks, drives to Atlanta and talks with my mother-in-law Blanche
27. the birth of Adam, our older son
28. the birth of Wyatt, our younger son
29. reading out loud to our sons
30. helping our sons walk and talk, read and write, find themselves in this world
31. camping trips
32. canoe rides
33. snorkel trips
34. spelunking expeditions
35. watching a loggerhead turtle dig her clutch and lay her eggs on a beach
36. pets – Thor and Mac, Rebel and Gramps, fish and turtles, Dickens, Duke, Calvin & Hobbes
37. 60 years of laughter and love with good friends
38. attending numerous writing conferences and workshops
39. speaking at writing conferences and offering writing workshops
40. meeting and supporting other writers of children’s books
41. writing and writing and writing
42. a long and happy affiliation with the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI)
43. publishing more than 250 books for children
44. meeting young readers across the country
45. fifteen years of consulting in schools with energetic and dedicated teachers
46. writing side-by-side with students in grades K-8
47. acquiring a literary agent who is compassionate, funny and HARD-WORKING
48. attending graduations and weddings, celebrating beginnings of all kinds
49. welcoming niece Leah and nephew Spencer into our hearts
50. Camp Schaefer with the Ehlerding kids and now the Banko kids
51. moving EVERYTHING, including plants, to Georgia and building a home
52. weekend getaways to Tybee Island, Jekyll Island or Hilton Head
53. writing and receiving hundreds of hand-written letters and thank-you notes
54. building gardens in Indiana and in Georgia
55. mowing grass, pruning trees, trimming hedges
56. sewing garments, tablecloths and mending
57. crocheting afghans, scarves, even a dress in college
58. learning how to make great soups
59. knowing and loving the men our sons grew to be
60. waking up 21,900 times ready to explore the next day