Fifty-Five, Still Alive

And still in debt—a lot of debt—but I had a really nice birthday

Dear friends,

How’s things with you? My 55^th birthday happened on Tuesday, and it felt more like a milestone than my big 5-0.

Dropped my plan to make linocut invitations, still spent too much time making invitations!

We were pretty deep in Covid when I turned 50, and I didn’t think much of it. I had taught online most of that day. Our village pubs had reopened by then, and one of their proprietors kindly delivered a delicious pint of Guinness to my door. That was it for celebrating the big 5-0, and that was enough for me. But 55 is different. I keep thinking about the ‘55 Saves Lives’ public service announcements during my 1970s childhood—but I’ve adjusted the slogan to ‘Fifty-Five, Still Alive’. (Take that, everyone in high school who thought I wouldn’t live to see 25!)