Turns out there’s a name for people in their 50s: the youngest of the old people.

I didn’t choose it, but I’m starting to think it fits.

We’re the scouts of aging, sent ahead to report back. And here’s what we’ve found so far.

We’re in a strange in-between.

We remember rotary phones and mixtapes. We also play mahjong and pickleball any chance we get. Those AARP mailings started arriving long before we were emotionally prepared.

Welcome to the club, I guess.

But this decade has real perks.

We’re still up for an adventure. We still want to laugh until our stomachs hurt, dance at concerts, take trips with girlfriends, and occasionally stay out way past our bedtime. We appreciate good wine, good food, and every now and then, a shot of Fireball.

Somewhere along the way, we figured a few things out.

Not everything deserves our energy. We don’t have to attend every argument we’re invited to.
We don’t need everyone to like us. And saying no doesn’t require a three-paragraph explanation.

We have friendships that have survived decades. Marriages and divorces. Babies and teenagers. Celebrations and heartbreaks.

And we’re still making new friends, people we might not have known ten years ago, who somehow feel like they’ve been around forever.

Some of us are watching our kids build lives of their own. Some are caring for aging parents. Some are starting over. And some are doing all three at once.

It’s a funny place to be. We’ve buried a few dreams and kept the good ones. We’re old enough to know what matters and young enough to still go after it.

Maybe that’s the real gift of this decade. We’re not finished becoming who we’re going to be. We’re just a little less interested in becoming who everyone else thinks we should be.

Yes, it’s strange. Yes, reading glasses are now a lifestyle. Yes, we say “back in the day” about things that happened in 2009.

So here’s to us scouts. The youngest of the old people.

Still making plans. Still figuring things out.

Just with better friends, stronger opinions, no time for nonsense, and a much clearer sense of what’s worth our time.

Reporting back: it’s better than we expected.
💛💛💛