I’m turning 60 in two weeks. Holy crap! I believe it’s important that we, as older women, be role models and learn to age gracefully- and teach our girls and young women (and men) that there is no shame in getting older. Own it!

But before I came to this realization, I’ve was feeling like my life was pretty much over. When I looked around everything seemed to conjure up a memory from yesteryear.

Hey! This is the hillside where I grew up riding horses and climbing trees. Look! This ball field is where I got knocked in the head playing softball on an all dyke softball team named Women in Gloves. Wow! I used to walk hand-in-hand with my partner and push our kids in strollers down Bernal Hill. Woah- Look at City Hall lit up in pink for the Women’s March! Remember in 2004 when we all got married there en masse? Ocean Beach looks as wild and wooly as that time on my 40^th birthday when my surfboard leash snapped and I got swept out to sea!

I’ve wanted to cheat time and deny my true age. It’s been ringing in my ears, you are OLD! At this age, many people are in ill-health or are already gone. I got to thinking about losing my best friend to cancer. She never even made it to 60! I started to wonder, is my life really over?

Hellz no! I’ve decided I’m too old to give a shit what anyone thinks about how old I am!

Think about it; why are we all so afraid of getting older? Because we are dismissed by society? Yup. Or because as older women we are INVISIBLE? Maybe.

I was the oldest person at the ad agency where I worked at age 40—and I fit in just fine because I was passing for ‘30s. In fact, I’ve passed for younger most of my life (except when I looked 21 at age 14 and frequented bars with my fake ID 😉

My best years are in front of me, because now I finally know who I am. At 60, I get to be and do whatever the hell I want and nobody is the boss of me. I’m claiming it!

Turning 60 means you are a friggin’ miracle and a badass!

“We live in a youth-obsessed culture that is constantly trying to tell us that if we are not young, and we’re not glowing, that we’re not hot, that we don’t matter. I refuse to let a system or a culture or a distorted view of reality tell me that I don’t matter. I know that only by owning who and what you are can you start to step into the fullness of life. Every year should be teaching us all something valuable. Whether you get the lesson is really up to you.” – Oprah

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