I’d made the decision to do fifty new activities the year I turned 50. Now what? Skydiving was sort of like having the frosting without the cake and I knew my budget couldn’t afford too many first time experiences if they were going to fall in that price range.  I was lucky because my in-laws and parents always gave me money for my birthday.  While I usually used those gifts to pay off the charge card bill from our summer vacation, that year I used it to finance my jump.  What would be my next step?

The day after my birthday, I fixed myself a cup of coffee and sat down to read the previous day’s newspaper. I usually do little more than skim the headlines, read the obituaries, and check to see if there were any yard sales coming up for the weekend. I thought it was unusual to see an ad with a bunch of balloons in it and, as I studied that ad, it suddenly dawned on me what it said. Someone had put an ad in the paper that said “Happy Birthday, Vicki”! I had absolutely no idea if I was the “Vicki” being addressed but I cut that ad out of the paper and pinned it to my bulletin board, right by my skydiving certificate! I’d never had a birthday ad before and I claimed it as my second great experience. It didn’t cost me a dime, either. I’d like to thank whoever did pay for it though. If it wasn’t meant for me, please know that you got a very nice two-for-the-price-of-one bargain! I loved it!

Being a milestone birthday, I got lots of cards that year. One friend gave me five different cards because one laugh wasn’t enough. If that’s not a few steps beyond normal, I don’t know what is! I used the record number of cards I got as another “first”.