Turning Fifty

Yes. It's true. I'm now on the AARP-approved side of fifty. Given what the AARP considers good medical legislation, I'm not totally convinced that this is a good thing. I'd hoped that this life milestone would pass more or less unnoticed, but this little note:

Date: Fri, 07 Feb 2003 18:36:34 -0500
To: "Friends of Rick Floyd"
From: Carla Ellis
Subject: Rick's birthday -- a surprise

Dear Friends and Family,

As many of you may know, Rick turns 50 years old this year on St.
Patricks Day -- March 17th.

In the past, some of you may have been the victim of Rick's flood of
birthday cards on special birthday milestones (e.g. 40 cards on your
40th birthday).

LET'S GIVE HIM A TASTE OF HIS OWN MEDICINE!

If each of you send just a card or two to arrive on March 17th, he'll
get an idea for how big a number 50 really is!

Thanks for making this a great surprise,

          Carla

The response was, well, overwhelming. Every day of the weeks leading up to my birthday brought fresh "over the hill" insults. By the time the cards stopped rolling in, I'd received nearly 250. As the two pictures here show, that was enough for hours of reading and amusement.

Thanks to Sharon, Jim, Bill, Merilee, Dan, Tom, Chris, Judy, Mira, Pisgah, Andee, Liz, Mark, Christine, Cathy, Cindy, Liralen, Karen, Liz, Steve, Gina, Jim, Kay, Deborah, James, Mary, Carl the mailman ("Sorry, Carl.") and, especially, Carla for helping make my birthday so memorable.

One final note to my siblings: Don't forget that you're all younger than I am. Your time will come.