Don’t Fear The Reaper
By Ryan McCrary

A Limited Edition Birthday Blog (No. 11!)

KALAMA, Wash. – When I was about eight my mom turned 40 – or as she might have said “29 for the 11th straight year”. There was cake and decorations. Of course the cake had a picture of the grim reaper on it and all the decorations were black. 

As my niece would say, “It was a whole mood”.

I turned 49 today. After two birthdays in lockdown, today has already been a nice change of pace. I went to breakfast with my family this morning. I had an omelet and pancakes and did not check the calorie count. There was a mini pancake festooned with whipped cream and strawberries, but there was no grim reaper appearance.

There are some days when I feel far older than what’s listed on my passport. Usually these days coincide with me doing tech support to fix my dad’s email or iphone. But in general, I don’t spend a lot of time stressing about age. I am so fortunate to have good health which eluded me when I was a teenager. I am so fortunate to be living near family again after decades in California. 

There is uncertainty ahead. There has been a lot of uncertainty behind, too. If nothing else, the last two years have shown that we can overcome challenges. About two weeks ago as I was scrolling through the ‘gram I saw Debbie Gibson doing AARP ads. If I can process that, I can handle almost anything.

Broadcasting icon Vin Scully once said “It’s a mere moment in a man’s life between the All-Star Game and an old-timer’s game.”

Fortunately, I never had the athletic talent to make an all-star game, so my plan is to push the old-timers game back as far as possible. If 49 is the new 39, I look forward to the next chapter. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be shredding my AARP mailer. But only after I stretch properly first.

FACTUAL: The No. 1 song in America when I was born was “Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Old Oak Tree” by the immortal Tony Orlando, which after at least 20 seconds of diligent Google searching, may have been one of the worst songs to ever climb to the top of the charts. Yes, I am aware the Macarena exists.  

QUOTABLE: “As you get older; you’ve probably noticed that you tend to forget things. You’ll be talking with somebody at a party, and you’ll know that you know this person, but no matter how hard you try, you can’t remember his or her name. This can be very embarrassing, especially if he or she turns out to be your spouse.”
 – Dave Barry