Blog - Day One

Took my son to high school early this morning. He and a friend had a sign to hang on the balcony of the school steps before the buses arrived. It was his invitation to a "girl" to go to the Homecoming Dance with him. He's a baby! He's only 14 years old! I didn't say this, because my two older children have taught me to be silent and drive. I have learned from them that your duty is to drive and save your unsolicited comments for safety and financial warnings.

This blog is not about regrets. But it is fascinating to me how the women around me, 50 to 60, are taking the change. I have one neighbor who spent the first year she moved in (at the age of 50) telling everyone how slim she used to be and how rigidly she controlled her diet. She was actually quite a charming woman once you got to know her, but you had to ask yourself "why is she telling me this and why can't she let it go?".

In my neighborhood of mowed lawns, sidewalks and Volvos, a great many of us moved in with toddlers who are now college students. We are the dog walkers armed with plastic bags, the speed walkers with water bottles, and the runners who pass you so quickly that all we leave behind is the whiff of speed, superiority, and faltering deodorant.