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Shine on you Crazy Diamond Dog!

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I turn 60 this year.  SIXTY.

Blah blah age is just a number, you’re only as old as you feel, 60 is the new 40 yeah yeah right.

SIXTY FFS!

I never got pearls for my 30th.

I never got rubies for my 40th.

No gold for my 50th [although I had  a new wedding ring at 53]

I doubt if there’ll be diamonds at my 60th- but my wife is a diamond, so I’ll let it pass!

Sigh.

In happier news, mum and dad just celebrated their diamond wedding, so I’ve sent off for a letter from the queen for them.  They are ardent royalists.  Sigh again.

Anyway, what can I REALLY say about being 60?  Hmm I’ve always said my lucky number is 6, because it’s a factor of each bit of my birthdate [18/6/60].

I often joke with the kids I teach that they shouldn’t keep me waiting as I’m so old I could die before they answer the question…then they ask if I’m 100 or something.  When I say no, but nearly 60 they are usually shocked.  I used to think this was because I look younger, but let’s be honest it’s just because it’s a huge number lol.  The fact I was their age in the 70s is beyond their comprehension.

Let’s do a quick review, in 10 year chunks as that seems to be a thing of late:

1960-I was born!  Top of the pops was Cathy’s Clown, the Everley Brothers.

1970- In the Summertime, Mungo Jerry.   I was at primary school, what can I say?  We’d moved out of granddad’s house in ’69, mum and dad were struggling to make ends meet, but we were fine.  Round about then, we got our first colour tv which was a big deal!  We also had a phone IN THE HOUSE- but hardly anyone else did so there weren’t many friends I could call lol.  I passed my 11 plus round about here, so off to grammar school in ’71.

1980-TOTP was ‘Crying’ by Don Mclean.  At 20, I was newly married, living in a 20 storey block of flats, working in an office [and about to be made redundant.]  We had no honeymoon- we were supposed to be going camping, but I put the tent out to air on the rooftop drying area and it blew away.  Sigh.

1990.  Apparently Elton John’s ‘Sacrifice’ was No 1.  Who knew?  At 30, I had three kids aged from 4-7, was living with my father-in-law, working part-time in the local off-licence and doing Ann Summers’ parties, making clothes for other people for pin money.  Oh the 1980s pouffy prom dresses and net petticoats!  Most of MY clothes were old, second hand, or just generally crappy.  I got involved with making costumes for the amateur opera company and had a lot of fun with that.Ex-husband was made redundant multiple times over the next few years as Thatcherism grew ever more rampant.  Times were HARD.

2000.   Number 1 was an absolute horror according to Google, that I definitely don’t recall.  In the interests of comp[leteness, I give you ‘the Trouble With Me’ by Black Legend. [WTF?]  As the ‘new millennium’ started [don’t get me going on that, I’m a mathematician!] By 40, things were very different.  I’d gone back to full-time work, been made redundant, gone to college and then university, got my PGCE and started teaching maths.  Father-in-law got a nasty case of bowel cancer and died, sisters-in-law did their damnedest to evict us and sell the house over our heads.  I’d thought things were hard before, this was a rough time.  Ex-husband picked himself up a bit, also went to college and then uni, and also started teaching.

2010:  TOTP apparently was ‘Shout’ featuring Dizzee Rascal and James Cordon.  Can things get any worse musically?  Wait a few months and we’ll see… By the time I hit 50 my first marriage had ended, work was becoming ever more problematic with several dreadful bosses one after the other, the menopause was kicking my ass soundly, my relationships with my kids were by and large in tatters…but I’d met my wonderful wife and we were building our lives together.

As 60 looms on the near horizon, work is looking good, my experience is being recognised and my employer actually considers me to be an asset. I am passing on my sewing skills via a thriving school sewing club. I can pick and choose what sewing I do, and my marriage is wonderful- we will celebrate our 7th anniversary in August.  My kids [and grand-kids] are, well, let’s draw a veil over that one for now, but who knows what time will bring?  I can’t even imagine how things will have changed again by the time I approach 70-that’s just a silly number.  Let’s hope I will be able to retire [and survive on reduced income], that the NHS still survives, and I will be able to have had the appropriate medical care to maintain decent health.

Well to apologise for those last few ‘musical’ monstrosities, here’s some CLASS.  TAke it away Paul

 

 

 

 

23 thoughts on “Shine on you Crazy Diamond Dog!”

  1. For me 60 was just another birthday that I stopped celebrating years’ ago. You’ve had an interesting life and emerged on the other side happy, employed and [relatively] secure. Look forward to free prescriptions, dental and optician’s care as well as free or subsisided public transport. Being ‘old’ does have some advantages. Ha, ha.

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  2. Happy birthday! Loved the Paul Simon video! Memories are so often related to music! I am 70, and can’t believe it. I have a new husband too. Much of my life could be regarded as a disaster (waiting to happen), but this gives us authenticity! Great you are teaching sewing, and love your down-to-earth, funny posts! You go girl! Cathie in the snow, near Montreal!

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    1. Thanks! I do actually think we are less ‘old’ than our aunties and grannies were back in the 60s/70s. And when I look back and realise that most of my ancient teachers were actually only in the 35-55 age bracket, it’s hilarious. Tweedy skirts, twinsets and pearls, tight little perms. Blimey. We’ve come a long way.

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  3. Another 1960 baby! I just turned 60 a couple days ago. This is a very interesting way of marking the decades. I remember a lot of music from the decades but these Number 1’s definitely did not make an impression.

    When I think back I mostly think about the changes – politics, environment, and analog to digital – that have happened over the long term. I will have to gather my wits and courage and see if I can remember my life “highlights” by decade.

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    1. It is VERY abbreviated- some things I just don’t want to dwell on, but hey, that’s a life fully-lived I suppose. I get to recall those changes when I reminisce a little to kids I teach- it IS funny to see their faces. When I told some last week that when I first left home I didn’t have a fridge, they were astonished.

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  4. I hope your 60th birthday will be wonderful and remarkable. You have had a very full and varied life so far and now you are enjoying a lovely time – long may it last along with your blog.

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  5. Congratulations (if I may say it – never know whether commiserations are more in order as we get older). Loved your decade by decade reminiscences – so right that the music has gone down hill! Phone is the house in 1970? – wow, we had to go round my grandmother’s to use the phone. Still not sure who she actually used to phone as I don’t remember anyone else having a phone in the seventies…

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    1. When we first moved into that house, the phone was already there- an old-fashioned party line at that. I remember when I found ONE schoolfriend who had a phone, so we really wanted to chat as soon as we got home for the novelty…and the woman over the road would NEVER hang up so we could use it. Dad used to put an eggtimer next to us so we couldn’t ramble on too long without incurring his wrath.

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  8. I remember feeling that 60 was a real turning point age – mostly because something actually changed – pensions (lucky old me), free NHS stuff, etc, etc. But I certainly didn’t feel old then although at 76 (in 2 weeks) I do feel old now. My husband has just written a book (self published, just 2 copies) which is a summary of his life so far and similar to you and your music he has recorded the political events alongside it (courtesy of Wikipedia). It is for his benefit in case he loses his marbles and for our son who may one day show an interest. The young don’t really want to know about you until it’s too late. I was just the same and now I wish I had shown more interest in my parents and family.

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    1. I don’t think it’s because we/they’re not interested, it’s just impossible when you’re young to realise properly that they won’t be around for ever. There are many things I wish I’d asked my grandad, a very quiet man. Life seems so short from this end!

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  9. Your journey through time via top songs is perfect for putting you back in the moment. I’m turning 70 this summer and, like you, had an ‘interesting’ variety of experiences. I threw myself a birthday party for my 60th. Piece of advice: invite friends OR invite family. I learned the hard way they don’t often mix well. I love your style and enthusiasm.

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    1. Interesting. yes, reminds me of the Chines curse- ‘may you live in interesting times’. I think boring would have been preferable. Mind you, I often say that all the things that happened must have been necessary to make me be the right person in the right place at the right time to find my lovely wife. After all, her mum and dad lived next door to me for 25 years…

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  10. Really interesting take – I hit the grand age of 60 a month ago and quietly ignored it, because in the grand scheme of things it wasn’t important – I still have another 7 years to work, if I ever stop caring. However, my asthma meds coming free of prescription charges will help.

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    1. It just FEELS like a big deal I suppose, but I definitely feel considerably older in many ways- far less stamina for work, so I fall asleep every night VERY early and sometimes don’t even wake up to eat. Weekends and holidays are at least 50% sleep…

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  11. As you know I sailed past 60 several years ago but I did it with a month of celebrations – a party for some friends, another party for a different set of friends, a weekend away etc etc. In fact it turned out to be a damn good month. Now I’m just tired all the time (sigh) so I know where you are with that. 7 years for you and D? That means I was fast approaching my 60th when I was your matron of dishonour. Still love that photo of us two at your wedding – don’t think either of us looked our age……. (Oh that I could say the same about myself now).

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    1. Lol I know what you mean about abruptly starting to look one’s age…the days when people would react in disbelief to my age seem to be behind me! Ah that was the perfect wedding day, and our matrons of dishonour were the BEST [you pair of old harlots lol]

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  12. What an interesting story DF. You can look forward to free prescriptions and a Senior Railcard. However in much of the country you don’t get your bus pass until state pension age. My twin brother, who lives in Scotland, has been riding around on buses for free for years. I’m still waiting!

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  13. Turning 70 in a couple months and still working 7 days a week. No rest for the wicked in my area…no pension, no free bus pass, no free drugs, no free eyeglasses, you just have to hold on with both hands and hope to have good health and clear thinking and a good pair of glasses. Life is for learning…bad first marriage, been there done that, changed countries 4 times but kept on sewing for clients and very happy with hubby #2. Don’t know what lies ahead but it will only happen if I keep my head down and a fresh needle in the machine! Best accomplishment was raising 3 kids who have good jobs and can support themselves. I loved Math is school and college and could have been a Math teacher like my oldest daughter but the sewing took over! Ha ha! Just be yourself, no one else can do that! Happy Birthday!

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