Numbers Game

They never saw it coming.

That was the tagline from a movie called Derailed, but it pretty much describes my feeling about aging.

By the grace of God, I turned 69 today, and I was reviewing my birthday blog post from 2006, which I described as “a quiet affair—just me, my dad, and my sister.”

I titled the post What Hath God Wrought?, which was the first official message transmitted over a commercial telegraph line in the U.S. on May 24, 1844.

Patti LaBelle, Bob Dylan, the Brooklyn Bridge, and my grandmother also celebrate their birthdays today.

“Mary, my dad's aide, made a delicious pasta dinner, my sister got the cake and sang ‘Happy Birthday’—my dad didn't seem able to join in—and then we watched Derailed on DVD,” I wrote on that day.

Back then I was shocked that I would be turning 50 the next year. Now, I’m just kind of numb to the numbers.

“I couldn't help but think of my mom when I looked at the cake's candles flickering in front of me, I could almost hear her singing to me,” I said in the post. “And my dad used to wave his arms like a conductor as everyone joined in."

"God, such a long time ago and yet it's still so fresh in my mind.”

Nothing’s changed since then…except my age, of course.

Derailed has been completely derailed from my memory. I know it was a long time ago and I watch a lot of movies, but I usually recognize the titles of the films I’ve seen.

I don’t know if that’s a commentary on the quality of the movie or my failing memory.

The IMDb plot synopsis sounds intriguing:

“When two married business executives having an affair are blackmailed by a violent criminal, the two must turn the tables on him to save their families.”

Pain at the Pump

The film certainly has a good cast: Clive Owen, Jennifer Aniston, and Vincent Cassel.

But I’m still drawing a blank.

There are at least six movies entitled Derailed, including a 2002 effort starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, who portrays a NATO operative “assigned to escort a thief in possession of a deadly virus, from Slovakia to Germany by train.”

The Clive Owen version is available on Amazon Prime, so maybe I’ll take a look and see if it jars any memory cells.

Meanwhile, back in 2006, George Bush was president, and I remember thinking America could not possibly do any worse. But then America elected Donald Trump twice.

I never saw that coming.

A tank of gas went for $2.90 back in the day, as opposed to today’s tally of $4.55.

America was waging a pointless and highly destructive war in Iraq, and now we’re waging a pointless and highly destructive war in Iran.

It can be a little depressing when you think about it, but I’m taking a break for my birthday.

“Let me pause here to thank God for letting me get this far,” my younger self wrote. “A lot of people haven't, so I consider myself very lucky.”

Since that time, my father, Mary, my Uncle Joe and my brother Peter are among those people who are no longer with us.

For today, my birthday celebration was a quiet but lovely affair. I had dinner with my sister, my auntie, and my beautiful niece at Red Bowl, my favorite Chinese restaurant, and I still consider myself very lucky.

I felt so good being with my family today. It’s been very damp and rainy in New York, and it feels more like November than May.

But, as I said 20 years ago, “no whining, no complaining, no tearing myself down. This was a great day.”

Indeed, it was.