Sixty Five
"You are old, Father William, and exceedingly grey!"
It is my birthday today — I am turning 65.
I find that hard to believe, although there are definitely days on which I can feel every one of those years!
When I look in the mirror, I don't really feel the reflection looking back at me. I don't actually "feel an age," but then I never have.
I have always struggled with the whole notion of self-image and self—identity, in the sense that both have been absent from my awareness, except in the most general of ways.
So now I am 65.
I remember that being really old when I was a kid, but 65-year olds in 1970 seemed older than 65-year olds of 2025. Or my memory is just going!
Truth be known, I have never been big into birthdays and celebrations... just as well the whole thing just pass by unnoticed. Likely, that's a hangover from childhood, where being the center of attention was rarely a good thing.
I definitely don't begrudge those who experience birthdays as reason for a huge party and celebration... I just don't happen to belong to that club.
Boring, I suppose...
And so, today will hopefully just be a pretty quiet affair, spent at home with good food and no great fanfare.
I'll be back with a proper post later!
Thanks for stopping by, and have a great weekend!
Comments, feedback and other interaction is invited and welcomed! Because — after all — SOCIAL content is about interacting, right? Leave a comment — share your experiences — be part of the conversation! I do my best to answer comments, even if it sometimes takes a few days!
Greetings bloggers and social content creators! This article was created via PeakD, a blogging application that's part of the Hive Social Content Experience. If you're a blogger, writer, poet, artist, vlogger, musician or other creative content wizard, come join us! Hive is a little "different" because it's not run by a "company;" it operates via the consensus of its users and your content can't be banned, censored, taken down or demonetized. And that COUNTS for something, in these uncertain times! So if you're ready for the next generation of social content where YOU retain ownership and control, come by and learn about Hive and make an account!
(As usual, all text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is original content, created expressly and uniquely for this platform — NOT posted anywhere else!)
Created at 2025.08.30 01:25 PST
1419/2683
Thank you!
Well Happy Birthday! :)
Thank you!
Happy Birthday and may you keep on moving forward without thinking about age and just enjoying life as it comes.
I also usually forget that I'm supposed to be old now and with nobody around me seeming to notice either, just keep up activities as usual.
I'm the same. To be honest it's usually just exhausting organising, attending and trying to entertain everyone. I'd rather just relax for the day.
Thank you for the good wishes!
I think my "take it easy" approach to birthdays is just an offshoot of how I view going on holiday: For me, the whole point of holidays is to get away from all the busy-ness of life, so trying to cram an endless laundry list of activities into two weeks of being "off" just doesn't make sense to me.
Have a wonderful non-celebratory birthday!
Thank you! For me, a quiet day without obligations is a gift, by itself!
I'd upvote that comment twice if I could, lol.
Oh wow. Beautiful
Thanks.
Happy Birthday to you! I understand the feelings on birthdays as it is the same way I feel lol. Hope you got your good food and had a nice, peaceful day.
Thank you! Looking good, so far... thankfully, most people in my life know by now that I use birthdays and holidays as a way to "unplug" from the busy-ness of social life.
Things that make you want to nod your head....a couple years ago someone in the family was going through some pictures of when my kids were young. They looked at a picture of me and asked, "is that you, you were really pretty when you were young", I wanted to reply nah, that's not me, I've always looked this weathered." lol
Hah!
Reminds me of when I left home and finally had he freedom to develop a voice and opinion of my own... and being served up with the "You used to be so NICE!" commentary.
Right.
Nice means never disagreeing with anyone, and just being a mini-me extension of the parental units. Right. Got it.
Happy Birthday and wishing you many more to come!
Thank you! As long as the body holds out, I plan to keep going!
While I sometimes celebrated a birthday here or there, certain birthdays never meant much to me, like turning 8, or 21, or 30 or 40. But for some reason my looming birthday in January is never far from my mind and I'm not sure why. I'll be 70... It seems significant somehow...
Anyways, I hope it was a good day, Happy Belated Birthday!
Thanks!
This birthday wasn't particularly significant to me; the only thing really associated with it is the hassle of getting Medicare.
In a sense, 70 will be a bigger deal, in the sense that it's when I formally am going to claim SS benefits... if Social Security even exists, at that point. Psychologically, that means I'm going to be claiming that I am "retired," even though I doubt I can ever afford to stop working.
Happy belated birthday!
Big parties never been my scene either, good meal and quiet time more enjoyable always.
!BEER