Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Birthday Girl: Bea Plus


Somewhere, in some celestial realm, three women are sitting down to some cheesecake in celebration of one of their birthdays.  A fourth, I hope, is raising a glass in her memory.

As for me, it hit me this weekend, watching part of Logo's Maude Mother's Day marathon, that now I'm older than Beatrice Arthur was when she first strode out into that archetypal Tuckahoe-set sitcom living room.  Last night I realized that as of this morning, in fact, I'm the age Gloria Swanson was when she made Sunset Boulevard.  That may not be old, exactly, but kids, it's not young.

And you know what? I don't mind.  The 50s, I've decided (with a little help from the fetching promo snap above), are the Decade of Liberty.  Finally I'm old enough not to care, smart enough to know what's what, and brave enough to tell it like it is, Maude-style.  Well, maybe not quite full-force Maude quite yet, but I'm getting there.  "You don't mince words, do you," said a colleague to me the other day.  "No," I answered.  "I just don't have time for stupidity any more."  That's my motto for the next part of my life, and my only challenge is to be vigilant that I'm on target when about to shoot.  At one stage of her life, the Baroness Blixen, Isak Dinesen - another person whose old age I admire - said that her motto was "Be Bold.  Be Bold.  Be not too bold."  I'm working on that balance.

Doing a quick inventory, I discover, I've got a whole lot more on the assets side of life's balance sheet than I could ever have expected:  Mr. Muscato, of course, first up, but beyond this solid marriage, good friends and some family at least who aren't wholly dysfunctional; work that is adequately fulfilling and, despite our chronic extravagance, more or less adequately remunerative; an almost surprising amount, the occasional ache or pain aside, of robust good health; the love of two terriers.  Youthful good looks may have vanished (taking with them my waistline, alas), but with a little careful maintenance I don't frighten the horses.  I do find myself occasionally searching for a word that I really ought to remember - it's on the the tip of my tongue - dammit what is it that word? - but I still do the crossword puzzle each morning and only occasionally resort to Google.  When I retire, I still intend to read Proust, and with any luck at all, I'll still have the mind to do so.

So here's to 51, an age when I probably ought to know better, but still have hope for the future.  It won't all be roses, that much is sure, but with a little patience, a lot of nerve, and the occasional glass of Champagne, there's still much about which to be amused.  In the immortal words of the equally immortal Miss Kitt:  Here's to life, and here's to love, and here's... to you.  To all of us, and Beatrice Arthur, too.

12 comments:

  1. Happy B-day! 51? You're a mere child!

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  2. haha - well said as always! In honour of both your partner and recent abode, may I also say Kull 'am wa antum bi khayr y'habibi...

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  3. I gladly second all of the above and, with great joy, send gobs and gobs of birthday felicitations from

    your slightly older sister out west.

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  4. Happy birthday - I am not far behind you...In the words of the great Bea herself: " If I could only repeal the law of gravity!"

    Jx

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  5. happy happy birthday!

    And here, all this time I half thought you might be Bea herself,
    you know, incognita.

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  6. An Irish toast for the Birthday Boy: May you live as long as you want and never want as long as you live...Cheers Darlings!

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  7. Best wishes for a joyous and fulfilling birthday.

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  8. Happiest of all days, sweetie. And in the spirit of comparing your little self to other milestones, you are now the same age as Lucia. Congrats.

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  9. Thanks, all! And special thanks to Peenee - I can't imagine a more encouraging thought, for surely no woman was ever more eternally in the prime of life that Mrs. Emmeline Lucas. The very thought of her makes me want to play the slow movement of the Moonlight Sonata while potting amiably against my neighbors...

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