Thursday Th(ink)s - August 20, 2026

1. I will not drink bad coffee.

For my 60th birthday, I wanted only one thing. Well, besides a hike across England from the Irish Sea to the North Sea—everyone knows THAT is what one gets for a 60th birthday.

Hiking across England nine years ago for my 60th birthday.

I wanted an espresso machine.

Not the Hudson’s Bay variety (we mourn you, store of our childhood), but one hand-tooled by a diminutive Italian man.

I got one.

The machine, not the tiny Italian.

Bad coffee is simply poor stewardship of my remaining mornings.

I will die on this hill.

2. I will get in the water.

Skin is waterproof. Bodies are gifts, no matter their size or shape. Aging is tough enough without adding self-shaming to the list.

Put on your bathing suit.

It’s summer.

Lord knows, I used to shred on one ski. Lord knows. Now....well, never mind.

Get in the water.

3. I will embrace both grief and love.

They are the front and back of the same sweater. You don’t get one without the other.

Deep grief honours deep love. I have lived long enough to know that the people I love will break my heart—sometimes simply because I have loved them for so long.

I will not protect myself from grief by loving less.

4. I will not underestimate the significance of good bread.

Hubs shows me his love in ways that bring jolly rolls to my belly and joy to my heart.

It’s called sourdough.

Jesus wasn’t called “the Bread of Life” for nothing.

Eat the bread.

5. I will not act older than I am.

I will not deny aging. I’ll walk hand in hand with it. I’ll acknowledge it. Give it its voice. Listen when it yells through my knees.

But I’ll still get in the kayak.

Aging gets a vote.

It does not get the whole ballot.

6. I will not become a cranky old woman.

There are enough of us.

I have no intention of spending my remaining years irritated because someone has twelve items in the ten-items-or-less lane.

Heart attacks can happen because the old lady has become a—well, insert word of your choice here.

No need for that.

I’ll slow my roll, extend some grace, and perhaps live longer.

7. I will live like wonder does not have a “best before” date.

Unlike writing, life can never overuse the exclamation mark!

I will scavenger hunt every day for the hidden ones!

A trail without switchbacks! A grandchild’s hand! Really good sourdough! A yellow hiking shoe! Venus in the evening sky!

They are everywhere!

8. I will trumpet that grandchildren are even better than my wee Italian-made espresso machine.

And you know how I feel about that machine.

Grandchildren have an astonishing ability to make me forget that I am tired, that my knees hurt, that I don’t like crowds, and that five minutes ago I announced I was absolutely not getting off this chair again.

Then one of them says, “Bedste, come!”

And apparently I can.

9. I will choose my shoes carefully.

Sensible shoes do not have to look like my grandmother left them to me in her will.

Shoes are a thing. I may own the same number of shoes as my age.

My bunions mock me and insist that my footwear should shout “MEDICARE!” from across the parking lot.

I will not listen.

Instead, I’ll buy men’s hiking shoes because they have room for my well-earned bunions.

And I’ll buy them in yellow.

My Birkenstocks are just right for church.

No one’s going to be washing my feet.

I promise you.

10. I will trust God to know when it is time to actually die.

And there it is.

The hill underneath all the other hills.

I can laugh about bad coffee, bunions, bathing suits, aging knees and the number of shoes in my closet because buried deeper than all of them is this sure confidence:

I am His.

He is mine.

I do not know how many mornings remain. I don’t know how many times I will get in the water, eat Hubs’ bread, follow a grandchild who calls, “Bedste, come!” or lace up those ridiculous yellow shoes.

But I know this:

Until God says otherwise, I am gloriously alive.

Number 11! Always bring a notebook with you. Story happens when you least expect it. Be ready.

And I intend to live like it.

Big Brains: "So it’s true, when all is said and done, grief is the price we pay for love." — E.A. Bucchianeri

Old Souls: "Let your life reflect the faith you have in God. Fear nothing and pray about everything. Be strong, trust God's word, and trust the process." — Germany Kent

The Ancient of Days: ”For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11 (ESV)

Norma Jean: Until God says otherwise, I am gloriously alive.

Thursday Chat: Give me just ONE hill you will die on. And if that gets you started and you can't stop, then give me TEN!