In the Winter of my Life?

I don't think so.
By the time you read this, I will have turned 50. And you know, it isn't such a big deal.
I know, I know. I am over the proverbial hill. So, I do, without much doubt, probably have more years behind me than ahead. But the years behind? I can only remember a few, but were they memorable.
Like four. Who doesn't remember four? I was in Kindergarten (an early starter) and I will tell you, it was nothing like today's Kindergarten. All I had to do was nap, play nice, share and eat my snack. The only lessons? Well, there was math. I was allowed only one cookie but if I brought cookies and there were 15 in the class and the pack had 25 cookies, 10 were going home. There was reading. We didn't so much read as we looked at this massive picture book and decided what Dick and Jane were doing. And there was recess. Now, I have to give credit to recess. In that little time frame, a person learns time management, sharing and delegation.
I also remember seven. Seven was the year my older brother joined the Army. He really never moved home again and I must say, I was devastated. While I would do four again, I don't think I would do seven again.
I would however take another stab at 7 going on 8. In August of that year (1968) my parents thought it would be fun to pack my other brother and I up and take us to New Mexico. We went via Florida and across Texas. We went home up through Colorado. In no particular order, I saw caves, a tarantula, a bald eagle, buffalo freely roaming, NASA, the Alamo, the aftermath of a hurricane, a scorpion and stars so big and huge, I was sure I could touch them. And we went to the World's Fair.
Also in 1968? My beautiful niece was born. What a firecracker she was and still is.
Sixteen was pretty memorable. I got my license... followed by losing my insurance because of an accident...or two. Sigh. On the flip side, I did go to New York that year with my high school band. And another trip my senior year to march in DC.
College was a fantastic time for me, after I got used to it. I was able to reach so much more than I ever dreamed possible. And I found out I was a bit smarter than my high school grades indicated as I missed Dean's List by the breadth of the required GPA.
And 49? I cannot tell you what my sister gave me at 49. A girls week involving a bridge, some elk and the great north. Thank you.
Married now, with three wonderful kids and 5 fantastic grand kids, why, indeed would I begrudge 50? I have done more in my first well, 8 years than most do in a lifetime. I have a full life behind me and I anticipate likewise ahead.
You cannot look at age as a reflection of who you are or what you can or cannot do. Age really is just a number and I have had, looking back, an amazing life of opportunities and 50 allows me to see that.
No - 50 is not a period on the story of my life, it is but a comma.