Entering my New Crone Age

Tomorrow I will turn 60. At 9:00 in the morning, I will wake up to cronehood! I plan to spend the day with my husband in Cape May, strolling on the beach (will I be old enough to avoid a beach tag?), wading in the surf, collecting stones and shells for a small cairn in my study, and enjoying a meal by the ocean. I live no more than an hour from the closest beach, but I never seem to get there. That must change!

My mother hated this 60 year milestone. In her mind, turning 60 represented the beginning of the end: encroaching ill health, weakness, depression, isolation. She had seen this happen to her own mother, and she went down the same path. This was a typical path for quite a few of our mothers. For every woman who saw the "golden years" as an opportunity to be free of the workplace or the responsibilities of family and to pursue other interests, I knew as many (or more) in my mom's generation who saw not the interesting features on the road ahead but only the thundercloud at the end.

But many of us live longer now, if we're lucky, and we can choose to engage. A different path can be the choice, if life events permit. I am choosing to be an enthusiastic Crone. In fact, I had even renamed this blog, but then discovered that The Crone Age is also the title of a recent book, so I didn't feel right using it. So Mystical Midget has returned as Mystical Murmurs (which was not yet taken), and will continue to reflect on the funny and sad moments that fill my life, and perhaps yours, too.

And, yes, of course I will bitch and moan with the rest of you in the years ahead. Hopefully the good stops on the spiritual journey will outweigh the bad.

Watch this space. Maidens/mothers/crones, let's go!

Comments

LondonBlacksheep said…
How I wish I could ask my mum about her turning 60....she doesn't remember....nor about my turning 60 either. Not moaning, just knowing that resource is lost to me now, as it is to so many Other Fellow Travelers...you are right, for me, it seems to be a thunder cloud overhead, swirling above a frontier of such confusion, chaos, unknowns. But, if this first year of this 'Golden Age' is anything to go by, it will turn out to be filled with such good friends and such unexpected good fortune, opportunities, dreams to be dreamt, hopes to be pursued with all my heart. Positive views, held lightly in my hand and heart.
12:43 PM
The Rev. Judy Vaughan-Sterling said…
Deb, my husband claims I have an overly rosy view of everything, old age included. But I had a friend who died at 102, and drove her car and sang in the church choir till she was about 95. So I know how it's done -- though I realize a lot of it is genetic. However, I'm still looking forward to visiting you on your island! Where would we be without friends?
11:04 PM
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