February 10, 2007
It occurred to me one day while sitting at my kitchen table that it would be a very good idea to celebrate my 60th (groan) birthday in Las Vegas or just about anywhere other than in my kitchen.
For some time, I had planned to mark this personal milestone with a trip to Hawaii, but Las Vegas is as far West as I am apparently going to get for the time being.
You may think that having one’s own birthday party is a bit indulgent, and that is exactly the reason why I am doing it. No question, a big birthday (meaning lots of years) is the perfect time to be self-absorbed.
At any age of 60 and beyond, I figure we can do just about anything we want. We have earned it if from nothing else than living on this planet for decades.
I still have trouble with the concept of actually being 60 years old. Maybe it gets easier as we get used to the idea or maybe not.
My father accepted the idea just fine. In fact, on the occasion of his 90th birthday, someone asked him, “So, Colonel how does it feel to be 90?”
He replied, “How does it feel to be 35?”
The answer is, of course, that we always feel the same inside whether we are 16, 35, 60, or 90, but I digress. Back to why I chose Las Vegas.
I am not a gambler, but I dearly love Las Vegas. Where else can you wear outrageous rhinestones and other sparkly things, and no one notices or cares. I love the lights, the activity, the gaudy hotel lobbies and the pure entertainment of people watching.
However, I must admit the last time I was there I spent more time hunting for a heating pad and something to relieve my arthritis pain than I did sightseeing. I tried the hotel spa, the hot stone massage, the works, but not much helped. I am hopeful this trip will be different. After all, there is a birthday party to attend, mine.
Turns out I am not alone in wanting to have one’s very own Vegas birthday party.
Author, Nora Ephron, wrote about her Vegas 60th birthday in her hilarious book “I feel bad about my neck and other thoughts on being a woman.”
For the record, I planned my party before I read Nora’s book.
FYI: Nora has written many successful pieces including screenplays for movie hits “When Harry met Sally”, “Sleepless in Seattle”, “You’ve Got Mail,” and other winners. “I feel bad about my neck” offers a candid and funny look at women who are aging and trying to deal with life without kids, with sagging skin, and with lives in which we can’t stand the way we look anymore. Of course, I recommend it to all women who are getting older and to some men.
What knocked me off my kitchen chair when I read her book was that Nora celebrated her 60th birthday in Vegas!
Here is what she wrote about her self-planned party, “When I turned sixty, I had a big birthday party in Las Vegas, which happens to be one of my top five places…I went to bed deliriously happy. The spell lasted for several days, and as a result, I managed to avoid thinking about what it all meant…Nothing else about me is better than it was at fifty, or forty, or thirty, but I definitely have the best haircut I’ve ever had...and as the expression goes, consider the alternative.”
You, dear readers, are most welcome to come to my party, but better yet, plan your own. And while you are at it, resolve next year to buy yourself a Christmas present, wrap it and put it under the tree. I always do. I bet Nora does, too.
