Decade birthdays

ByDeborah Raney
31 Comments

Today is the first day of my last week in my current decade. It’s honestly a little hard to believe that I’m as ancient as I am. On Friday I’ll enter the decade that I’ve always thought of as “officially OLD.” Ouch! But I’m not going to fret. I did that my last decade and it turned out to be for no good reason.

Now I know where I got my love of houseplants and flowers. That watering can in my hand was a gift for my third birthday.

On my 20th birthday I was a newlywed living in New York with Ken, but we had NO money, so we probably celebrated quietly in our cute little apartment. I really don’t remember!

I do remember that I spent my 30th birthday having coffee with the girl who would become one of my dearest friends in life. Terry is in heaven now but we enjoyed more than thirty-five years of friendship and made lots of great memories together. I miss her every day.

I can’t remember for the life of me how I celebrated my 40th. But I do remember that it didn’t bother me in the least to turn 40. My 40s ended up being some of the best years of my life.

Even 50 didn’t faze me. My sister Vicky snuck a crazy sign in our front yard to commemorate the day, and Ken took this photo of me with “Maxine.” I remember my mom telling me around this time that every year of her life had been better than the one before. I took great comfort in that.

None of those other decade birthdays fazed me, but months before I turned 60, I moaned and cried and worried. I began the day of my birthday by getting a speeding ticket, going 60 in a 40 hurrying to have coffee with Terry. Oops! And the officer didn’t even have pity on me because it was my birthday! (As I was preparing this post though, I noticed that she wrote the wrong date on my ticket! I should have contested it! 😉 )

I came home from coffee with Terry to a birthday gift I treasure to this day. All my kids and grandkids had written “60 Things We Love About You” on strips of paper and put them in a pretty jar. The sweetest gift (yes, I’m crying in that photo below) and over the years, I’ve often read those slips all over again on my birthdays!

A few days later, I celebrated my 60th birthday with my dear Club Deb friends (clockwise from lower left, Debbie, Deb, Debbie, Elaine, Bev, and me—also Deb :)).

All my worries and fears turned out to be for nothing and my 60s have been fantastic years! Yes, life brought some sorrow, as life does this side of heaven: I lost my mom, my mother-in-law, and Terry. Those were hard, even though I know they are all in heaven. But I gained so much too: Another sweet daughter-in-law and nine more grandkids for a total of 14! New friends, a chance to live closer to our daughters’ families, to travel the country and even take my dream trip to Europe where we made so many precious memories.

So as this decade comes to a close, I’m trusting my 70s into God’s loving hands. I get to celebrate this birthday with my beloved husband and another dearest, dearest friend, our own Tammy and her husband Joe. I have so very much to be thankful for and I can’t wait to see what He has in store for me in this new decade.

How about you? Were any of the decade birthdays especially hard for you? If so, why? I’d love to hear from you.

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DEBORAH RANEY's first novel, A Vow to Cherish, inspired the World Wide Pictures film of the same title and launched Deb’s writing career. Forty books later, she's still creating stories that touch hearts and lives. Her novels have won RWA's RITA Award, the ACFW Carol Award, the National Readers Choice Award, and the HOLT Medallion. She is also a four-time Christy Award finalist. Deb is on faculty for several national writers’ conferences and served on the executive board of the 2,500-member American Christian Fiction Writers organization for 18 years before retiring in 2022. She is a recent transplant to Missouri, having moved with her husband, Ken Raney, from their native Kansas to be closer to kids and grandkids. They love road trips, e-biking, Friday garage sale dates, and breakfast on the screened porch overlooking their wooded backyard.

31 Comments

  1. LOVE this post! To say I’m excited to see you next week doesn’t even come close! And to celebrate this next new decade for you. What fun awaits. And yes, we’re bringing our bikes. I hope weather cooperates! Blessings to you, dear friend. I’m praying this next decade is your best yet this side of heaven.

    1. I can’t WAIT! And it looks like we’re going to have PERFECT weather. Unseasonably cool for May! Yay! See you soon and always treasure your prayers! ❤️

  2. Happy Birthday! And may this decade and God bless you with more decades of memory making moments/

    Honestly, I don’t remember fretting about any of my seven decade birthdays. As Popeye use to say, I is what I is. 🙂

  3. Aging doesn’t really bother me. I do remember my 30 birthday, but only because I started out my work day by spilling a whole cup of Diet Coke and ice all over the floor!

    My husband hits the big 60 this summer… no big plans to celebrate it yet.

  4. Happy Birthday! I’m just a few months ahead of you. . . and I’m grateful for each day! May these be your best years yet. Enjoy that visit with Tammy!

    1. Awww, thanks, Carrie. I’m grateful for each day too! Better yet, each day brings me closer to the best happy ending EVER. (Not that I’m in a big hurry. This life on earth is pretty wonderful.) 🙂

  5. 40 was a hard one for me. I had 2 children but was really hoping for another and we’d been trying for years. When I turned 40 I figured it wasn’t ‘right’ nor ‘safe’ to try and get pregnant. I tearfully gave that desire over to God. Six months later – I was pregnant! Turned out to be my best pregnancy and easiest delivery of the 3. At 41 I delivered my 3rd baby. And what a joy she has been to our family! I’ve truly enjoyed all the baby/toddler/childhood days. She is now in college and keeps me feeling young (ish).

    1. Aww, that’s wonderful, Sherry! God truly knows best! And I agree about those late-in-life babies keeping us young! I’m SO glad we had our “oops” baby (when I was 35.)

  7. Happy birthday, Deb!! I loved reading your walk through the decades and enjoying the pictures you shared. I hope your 70s are your most amazing years yet!

    For some reason, my 40th was the hardest so far. I’m not sure why, but I cried and had an all around terrible attitude. For my 50th, my husband gave me an epic surprise party at a local burger joint that is decorated in 50s style inside. It even has a jukebox. My parents and my brother and his wife came in from Tennessee, and my daughter and granddaughter flew in from Texas. I shed a lot of tears during that party, but they were all happy tears.

    I gave my husband a pretty epic surprise party two years ago for his 60th and told him we were now even with the big surprises and could both just go low-key for those yet to come. LOL

    Enjoy your birthday week!

    1. Your 50th party sounds AWESOME, Deena! Just what you needed. I’m not really much for surprises and will VERY happily go low-key for the rest of my life. Just thankful for each year He gives us here on earth, and so very grateful to look forward to an eternity in heaven with Him!

  8. Happy (early) birthday, Deb! Decade birthdays are always a big deal to me. I cried before I turned 20! (I laugh at that now.) Mourning 30 hit me at 28. (“Next year I’ll be 29, then I’ll be 30!”) Ironically, I had no problem with 40 or 50! But now that 6o is around the corner (see 30), I’m a bit panicky! My best birthday was 40–not only did hubby give me a surprise party, he surprised me with a trip to NYC that was off the charts wonderful!

  9. Happy birthday! There is no way you look like you will be 70. I enjoyed the pictures you shared.

    None of my decade birthdays bothered me. I do think more about my upcoming birthday in September when I will be entering the decade ahead of you.

    Cheers!

  10. Happy early birthday, Deb! It helps to read your positive views on aging. I’m having a bit of difficulty reconciling my birth age with how old I feel in my mind. Next year I’ll be facing the big 70 also and it doesn’t seem possible I can be so old! Where did the years go? I hope we all have many more birthdays though.

  11. This is a beautiful post, Deb! A very happy birthday to you! (You don’t look that old to me.)

    I am in agreement with your Mom. Each year holds something different, opportunity for growth, new people we meet, and we grow closer to our heavenly home. There isn’t a year I have celebrated yet that was a dread. Although I couldn’t wait to be 20 so I didn’t have to be a teenager any longer! When I was 19 I told people I was “twenty minus one”. 😂

    Love and hugs to you (& Ken)!

  12. Welcome to the 7th decade. I have not dreaded any birthday (yet). But with the seventh decade there have been new developments. Arthur (arthritis) had paid a call. I have slowed down a lot (can’t keep up with the grands as much). And I’ve given much too much money to the hearing aid people 😉 But all in all I have been blessed. We have a wonderful church family who honors our gray hair and still have a few ‘older’ long time friends. Like you said, we are enjoying this side of heaven until Jesus calls us home. Blessing to you Deb as you enjoy your golden years.
    Love, Jocelyn

    1. You have a great attitude, Jocelyn! And yes, I’m just beginning to get acquainted with “Arthur.” I’m just grateful he waited this long to visit because my mom had arthritis much worse and much earlier than I did. All the trials of age just make heaven look all the more attractive. 🙂

  13. Holy Cow, girl! You look terrific for an almost-70 woman. All the time I’ve followed you here I thought you might be mid-50’s or less. In answer to your question, I confess 25 was iffy because people kept saying “Oh! A quarter of a century!” And 40 was hard because I’d had a hysterectomy 2 months earlier. But after that, birthdays didn’t phase me and now I’ll soon be beating you by 8 years. God has blessed me with terrific friends and the best of health so I think I can handle it! And I suspect you’ll still be going – and writing – 20 years from now! Happy, Happy Birthday, Deb! And enjoy your day!

  14. Oh, you’re so sweet to say that, Lynne! I’m blessed with parents who had very young genes. My dad could pass for 65 and he’s 92! So I thank the Lord for that. And yes, like you, God has blessed me with good health, precious family and friends, and I do hope to be still writing many years from now, Lord willing. It’s fun to hear such encouraging words from somebody who’s “beating me” by 8 years! <3

  15. Happy Birthday, my friend. I’ll be 70 in January 2026. I believe after reading your post, we’re sisters from another mother. I, too, have dreaded my milestone birthdays. It started when I turned 30. I thought I was over the hill. My hubby, behind my back, set up a singing telegram to come to my work. The man dressed up as a clown and made me sit on his lap in front of everyone. A fun time. And Ray lived through doing it to me. HA! Forty came, and I’m talking to my sister on the phone. All of a sudden, our call went wacky. Turns out she was walking in my front door. She’d flown in from Kansas City to surprise me. Ray was in on that one too. He said he had to “run” down to Denver for a part. HA! If my sis wasn’t enough, Ray had a limo (first time for all of us) to take us to dinner. WOW! Fifty had us flying to Hilton Head Island in January to celebrate my big day. I don’t recommend visiting there in the winter, but we had a blast. By the time I hit sixty we were retired and traveling in our RV. As my b-day approached, I wanted to do something different. I didn’t want to do a trip, so I heard that Make A Wish was having a Gala while we were in Florida. I went out and found a long dress, and we signed up. What a fun evening. The monies we would have spent on going somewhere went to help the organization grant wishes for the children. Doing that made Sixty not hurt as much. But I will tell you, I’m not swallowing the fact that 70 is a little over seven months away. I have told Ray that I want my backend on a cruise ship, but I’m not sure that will happen since Maggie (our pooch) is almost fifteen. Whatever it is, I’m positive it’ll be a kick in the pants! Thanks for your post, it was fun thinking back at all my birthdays. Love you!

    1. Wow, Janetta! You have celebrated those milestone birthdays in STYLE! I love it all! And bless your Ray for knowing how to celebrate you!! Honestly, while I’ve loved traveling with Ken, the BEST treat for me is always coming HOME and I’m so happy that’s where I’ll be for this birthday. (But even happier that my dear friend Tammy and her husband Joe will be here celebrating with us!)

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