I Found My Midlife in the Mail

Posted on 09. Sep, 2007 by Karen in Reflections

When does midlife begin, anyway?  Is it a certain age, a certain feeling, a lone gray hair gleaming like dental floss.  Well, I remember the day midlife hit me.  I was 49–young I thought.  I got home and picked up the mail and found an envelope addressed to me—from AARP!  I was sure this was a mistake.  I wasn’t old enough to be in AARP, was I? 

According to AARP, I was.  Apparently at 49, you can become a member and get all those great benefits that seniors get.  Did I care?  And how did they know my age anyway?.  At that time, I was barely admitting it to myself–or anyone else for that matter.  I felt like I had been tracked down, hunted like an animal, just to be caught and told I was there–at the juncture of youth and midlife.  I felt deflated…and old.

To make matters worse, my husband saw the envelope before I could ditch it in the trash.  Through him, the word spread around the family like wildfire.  It felt like the initials "AARP" were tattooed on my forehead.  I was marked for midlife–on the pathway to senior discounts at the movies.  It was not a good feeling–then.

Since that time, I’ve come to appreciate the benefits of AARP and flash my card greedily to get whatever savings I might be entitled to.  My insurance agent knows I’m in AARP, the car wash, my cleaners and whoever else has the misfortune of providing me with some service that AARP might discount.  All kidding aside, I love what AARP does for those of us from midlife on to support us in the second half of life.  But I’ll never forget that sobering day when I got midlife in the mail.  When did it come to you? 

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