joining the 8’s

I have a significant birth milestone coming up in a few days. It’s what I call “joining the 8’s.

I’ll be 80 years young. My good friend, Nannette, did this about four years ago. At that time it seemed remarkable to me that she was 80, and that I had a friend that age!

I have a few family members and several friends in my church parish that have accomplished this milestone. I feel I’ll be in good company.

One of my dearest friends made the transition just two weeks ago. A few days before her birthday we Face-timed at the end of one of our monthly calls. We had not seen each other for about 15 years. We declared one another pretty. That was a smile moment.

Now my turn to join the 8’s is fast approaching.

A bouquet sent from my best friend arrived today from Farmqirl Flowers. Its description is Sunset. The accompanying note from her said “Looking forward to sunsets in Faroes and Iceland”, a reference to our long awaited, upcoming trip to celebrate our milestone birthdays. I’m so ready!

The past several years I have referred to myself as “oldering”. I wonder if I have drifted into old age. And just as with other times and events in my life, I will need to take time to grow into this particular era of my life.

I’m reading May Sarton’s Coming into Eighty. It’s a collection of poems written in her seventy-ninth and eightieth years, declaring herself “a foreigner in the land of old age”.

In Coming into Eighty, she writes:

Glancing through the poems before I settle into a rhythm of reading, I note there are often lines about pain. Perhaps this is just the book to accompany me for the 8’s journey. With one of my favorite writers along, I’m in good company.

My sister arrives tomorrow. I’m SO glad she is coming! At the top of our to-do list is bake the cake my mom made for each of my birthdays. A Peppermint Chip Chiffon Cake.

The recipe appeared in a 1941 issue of Lady’s Home Journal. It was a Gold Medal Flour advertisement, and bakers are advised not to risk failure by using any other brand of flour.

This cake is a big deal to make. It takes some skill to bake an old-fashioned chiffon cake (which incidentally must hang upside down on a glass milk bottle to cool.) The Candy Mountain Icing takes some skill to pull off as well. I’m pretty sure these two sisters have got this.

I’ll be thrilled when I slice the cake, which I just may do BEFORE dinner! After all, this cake represents my Joining the 8’s.

I look forward to astonishment during my 8’s.