Turning 40 - It’s All About the Journey

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Are You Turning 40 and Looking for a Profound Life Change?

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By Megan Hunewill-Wright

Excerpted from the article
I’m turning forty next week. It is interesting what this implies in a person’s life. I look around at the people I grew up with and we are all middle-aged. I don’t feel middle-aged- I’m not sure how that is supposed to feel- but I do know that forty is sort of a significant sign post along life’s highway. Hopefully, by forty you’ve gotten some of your stupider impulses out of the way and you understand those things that make life truly rich. I haven’t accomplished some of the things I aimed to do by the time I turned forty, but I’m grateful that I’ve made it this far and I still have the chance to do better tomorrow than I did today.

Not only do we get older but the people who were forty when we were kids have reached sign posts further down the pathway of life. Two nights ago I had my Dad and Art ( he has worked and lived on our ranch for almost fifty years and still lives on the place) over for dinner and visit. They are quite a pair these two well seasoned guys. Art’s legs were crippled by polio as a child, but being horseback meant that he could get a days work done just like everyone else. Now he can’t ride and he can barely walk but he still gets around the ranch in a golf cart observing the everyday doings and offering sage remarks.

My dad’s body is in better shape than Art’s he has new knees and can still get on a horse. However his mind is betraying him and he has trouble remembering what he did today or what he’s supposed to do in an hour, but he can tell you lots of things that happened sixty years ago. My Mom takes dance on Monday nights so usually the dynamic duo of Stan and Art go to my brother’s for dinner, but tonight it was my turn. Together they made it over to my house; my dad drove and helped Art walk up the steps and Art filled in the gaps in the conversation. Art chatted about the upcoming political primaries, what’s new on the History Channel, and of course he talked about guns ( he owns many and knows lots), we ate dinner and finished with ice cream, both these guys could eat their weight in ice cream. Then I put on some old movies that some friends sent of Smith Valley and Bridgeport from the 30’s, 40’s and 50’s. Well, that got them going, they recalled every horse in the picture and laughed at the antics of the people they knew on the screen. My dad was five in some of the first movies, he had on a James Dean looking outfit and was about seventeen in some others, I saw Art get quiet when he saw himself on a horse and you could see the yearning in his eyes for the days when he could still ride. It was bitter and it was sweet, but in the end they went out the door laughing about all the old times and I kidded them about driving straight home and not heading out for a night on the town. It was a rich evening for me, my kids, my husband, and I hope for these two guys that I have known my whole life.

So whether you are forty or somewhere else on life’s highway I hope you are having a great January. I know I am. I’m thankful for the people old and young in my life, I’m grateful for the snow and the water it will bring and the chance to start over in the spring.