Reflections on a Half-Century

Two months from tomorrow I turn 50.  I have spent some time this week reflecting on that.  Down in our basement, I found my baby book that my mom made.  Given that I am the firstborn, she wrote down in great detail, the first two years of my life.  On the "favorites" page of the baby book, she said my favorite first toy was one of her gravy mixers. Somehow that doesn't surprise me, given how much I love to bake and cook. 
I didn't find any pictures from my first birthday party, but I did find these pictures from when I turned two.

I love the picture on the bottom right, I'm in the background already eating my cake, while my guests had to stand in front of the table and wait! Well, I was the birthday girl after all :) Inside the baby book, I found two pages of notes that my mom had typed up on my "progress" at the end of my second year. Two sentences in particular caught my eye. The first one was, "her negative opinions became quite strong, but if approached gently, she would usually go along with what was asked." That is still pretty much true today, except sometimes even if I am approached gently, I don't always go along with what is asked.  The second sentence, "Cathy is a very cheerful little girl, each night when asked are you happy, she responded, "habby." That also is true today, I try my hardest to be happy for everything I have. One thing I have always known from a young age, was that I wanted to get married and have children.  It took me a long time to find my hubby, but it was well worth the wait.  I am super blessed to have my stepson, Lauren and Dominic. As I sit here and think about the past almost 50 years of my life, in some ways it seems like it's gone by fast.  It's been almost 32 years that I've been out of high school. Yikes, it definitely doesn't feel like it's been that long! I have reconnected with childhood friends on Facebook that I thought I would never hear from again. I have friends that I think of as family. I have many people in my life that support me and my family on a daily basis. I still have both my parents and my siblings.  Unfortunately, I have also lost other special family and friends.  My heart still aches so much for my cousin, who unexpectedly passed a little over two years ago.  We grew up together and I still mourn that loss. Even when there are trying and tough times, I try very hard to be as positive of a person as I can. I try to treat others as I would expect to be treated.  Life is full of different experiences, and I try to learn something from each one. When I look out my window and see a glorious sunrise like this, how can it not make me feel grateful and appreciative for everything that I have??  Every day is a beautiful "gift" that we are given.  I can't wait to see what the next 50 years has in store for me!!