This is my birthday month. Remember, as a child, how exciting your birthday would be when you’d get gifts? Now any of you who have children know that birthdays, for them, are like Mardi Gras. It goes on for several days. You have to bring cupcakes to the school, then also maybe to his after-school program, then you have to have a party for his friends, then a party for family friends....

Aging is always a funny thing to me. People can’t tell you the actual age they are, as if that’s going to change your opinion of them because they’re “of a certain age.” Plastic surgeons make a lot of money trying to make you look like the age you think you’re supposed to look like at your age.

I like when people say to me, “Oh, your birthday’s coming up. Father Time is chasing you down!” Isn’t Father Time undefeated?

Reflecting back on aging... as a child, you have mentors. Your parents, your school teachers. You get out of college, you start having work mentors to get you to a certain higher level in your career.

I think there’s a group of mentors that we overlook: Senior Citizens. People who are retired, living in retirement homes. My Mother is in one of those places and I’ve come across a lot of people who are great examples of how I’d mentor myself when I get that age.

I think the right way to grow old is to keep moving, keep learning new things. I’m explaining an iPhone to a 90 year old, and then she explains to me how much fun a party line used to be when she first got a phone in her house.

My mentor on growing old would be my Grandfather-In-Law. He was a man that kept his mind open. Looking at new things. Trying to really understand new things. Sure, sometimes things in life will kick you right in the throat, but if you live long enough, you might be able to turn around and laugh at some of those things.

Of course, when I was sixteen, I didn’t think I’d have this much grey hair and that my knees would be so bad. But since they are, I’m embracing it with a lot of Tylenol. I look forward to being at the craps table in a wheelchair with my son who just wheeled me up there, explaining what each roll of the dice came out to since I wouldn’t be able to see the actual table.

Life is different for people at different ages. But I’m always confused - is it different, or does it just look that way because of all of our different life experiences? Or like the saying, “Everything old is new again.” Like with movies and television. I thought Star Wars was the most innovative thing I ever saw. People older than me say it’s nothing but a cowboy & indian movie in outer space.

In closing, a big Happy Birthday to me and all the rest of you Libras out there! I’ll leave you with this saying: My future’s so bright, I’m gonna need progressive shades.

Thank you for all the comments on last month’s Photo of the Month! Keep ‘em coming and enjoy reading my new ones!

- Kevin S. Nash

Photo details: Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA.