65 at 10:20 this morning.

I can’t believe I made it this long.

I don’t feel any different inside than I did when I was a teenager, which speaks for that timeless and, um, ageless spirit at the core of each of us.

Indeed, nothing is really changing in my life as I pass this symbolic juncture in my life, except my office medical plan won’t offer me long-term disability insurance anymore. Maybe I should never have opted to pay for that coverage in the first place because I never had to use it; the insurance company made off like bandits. I could go on about age discrimination here, but whatever . . .

As for retirement, well, maybe in five or 10 or 15 years. Maybe when I actually feel old. Because age is more about how you feel than the actual number of years you have been present in your current incarnation. I’m pretty sure that, in essence, we are eternal sparks of the Greater Energy, hence ageless . . .

Smiles . . . (That’s my rationale, and I’m sticking to it.)

I still love being a journalist, in fact, even more so now than ever before. So, I’m sticking with it.

As for this day, well, my partner and I are going to a major party tonight, honouring a beloved Montreal DJ who IS retiring today after 40 years with a local station. I hope to take lots of pictures and do a post here about it this weekend.

Yes, I will party on, too . . .

— Jillian

Photo: The lotus symbolically represents karma in many Asian traditions. A blooming lotus flower is one of the few flowers that simultaneously carries seeds inside itself while it blooms. Seed is symbolically seen as cause, the flower effect. The lotus is also considered as a reminder that one can grow, share good karma and remain unstained even in muddy circumstances. (Photo: Nevit Dilmen/Wikipedia)