Clippings: Using age to one's own advantage

Funny how age kind of creeps up on you. And in my house, people are starting to think my age is getting kind of funny. My brother will turn 50 this year, and I am very close on his heels.

Hadn’t given much thought to my internal odometer until earlier this month when our son, Mark, celebrated what he considered to be a pretty noteworthy birthday.

Seventeen.

“I can legally get into R-rated movies now,” Mark said with a grin soon before blowing out (without having to use a lot of lung capacity) the paltry 17 candles on his birthday cake.