{"id":38338,"date":"2017-12-23T02:16:45","date_gmt":"2017-12-23T07:16:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wendybrandes.com\/blog\/?p=38338"},"modified":"2017-12-23T16:14:50","modified_gmt":"2017-12-23T21:14:50","slug":"a-birthday-gifs-and-the-wisdom-of-sonny-rollins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/2017\/12\/a-birthday-gifs-and-the-wisdom-of-sonny-rollins\/","title":{"rendered":"A Birthday, Gifs, and the Wisdom of Sonny Rollins"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It&#8217;s officially Dec. 23, 2017 (New York time), so it&#8217;s my birthday. I&#8217;m now halfway to &#8230;<\/p>\n<p><center><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/giphy.com\/embed\/l2JHQrwOI2EVUy86s\" width=\"480\" height=\"480\" frameBorder=\"0\" class=\"giphy-embed\" allowFullScreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/giphy.com\/gifs\/l2JHQrwOI2EVUy86s\">via GIPHY<\/a><\/p>\n<p><\/center><\/p>\n<p>Holy shit!<\/p>\n<p><center><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/giphy.com\/embed\/13C37Ve5mNFQwE\" width=\"480\" height=\"466\" frameBorder=\"0\" class=\"giphy-embed\" allowFullScreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/giphy.com\/gifs\/happy-birthday-feliz-cumpleaos-my-13C37Ve5mNFQwE\">via GIPHY<\/a><\/p>\n<p><\/center><\/p>\n<p>I remember the surprise party we had for my father&#8217;s 50th birthday like it was yesterday, but it was in 1989. I had recently turned 21 and I thought, &#8220;Wow, this age is a lifetime away for me.&#8221; <\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_38497\" style=\"width: 505px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-38497\" src=\"http:\/\/wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/dads50thbday.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"495\" height=\"326\" class=\"size-full wp-image-38497\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/dads50thbday.jpg 495w, https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/dads50thbday-300x198.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 495px) 100vw, 495px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-38497\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">1989. My sister on the left, Dad in the middle, and me on the right.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>I mentioned that thought last December to my longtime hair guru <a href=\"http:\/\/wendybrandes.com\/blog\/?s=keith+carpenter\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Keith Carpenter<\/a>, who said, &#8220;Well, a lifetime <em>has<\/em> passed.&#8221; And I was like &#8230;<\/p>\n<p><center><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/giphy.com\/embed\/l0HlL6eH6eEew5FpS\" width=\"480\" height=\"271\" frameBorder=\"0\" class=\"giphy-embed\" allowFullScreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/giphy.com\/gifs\/family-guy-fox-family-guy-foxtv-l0HlL6eH6eEew5FpS\">via GIPHY<\/a><\/p>\n<p><\/center><\/p>\n<p>Shout-out to Keith for always knowing how to make me feel better! <\/p>\n<p><center><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/giphy.com\/embed\/oTWSOTEKTsRZm\" width=\"400\" height=\"480\" frameBorder=\"0\" class=\"giphy-embed\" allowFullScreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/giphy.com\/gifs\/old-purple-wants-oTWSOTEKTsRZm\">via GIPHY<\/a><\/p>\n<p><\/center><\/p>\n<p>The Bea Arthur gif above reminds me that her <em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0589801\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Golden Girls<\/a><\/em> co-star, Rue McClanahan, was only 51 when she started playing a Florida retiree on that show.<\/p>\n<p><center><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/giphy.com\/embed\/3oKIPCS80JYqt0QQc8\" width=\"480\" height=\"480\" frameBorder=\"0\" class=\"giphy-embed\" allowFullScreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/giphy.com\/gifs\/thegoldengirls-hulu-golden-girls-3oKIPCS80JYqt0QQc8\">via GIPHY<\/a><\/p>\n<p><\/center><\/p>\n<p>Seriously, though, my attitude about age and life in general is weirdly in sync with that of 87-year-old jazz musician Sonny Rollins. The iconic saxophone player &#8212; who has played his last note due to health issues &#8212; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.vulture.com\/2017\/12\/jazz-icon-sonny-rollins-on-giving-up-playing-and-his-legacy.html\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">did an interview with New York Magazine<\/a> in which he reflected upon the meaning of it all. I could quote so much of his wisdom but I&#8217;ll just highlight this one that ends the story:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em>&#8220;I&#8217;m still trying to make amends for some of my early life when I did a lot of ignorant things. But hey, that\u2019s what life is: You mess up, and you try to become aware.&#8221;<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><center><a id='_HZF9CWpSONj7N4asPp5iA' class='gie-single' href='http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/112290589' target='_blank' style='color:#a7a7a7;text-decoration:none;font-weight:normal !important;border:none;display:inline-block;'>Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'_HZF9CWpSONj7N4asPp5iA',sig:'B6cYfnoUAEiJv8a50PJtbYIrqDiZed--hMCA2OH7EeM=',w:'377px',h:'594px',items:'112290589',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/center><\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;ll have more to say in my next YouTube video, in which I will also reveal my closet full of age-defying tricks!<\/p>\n<p><center><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/giphy.com\/embed\/3ov9jSzmObzhAtmy4w\" width=\"480\" height=\"240\" frameBorder=\"0\" class=\"giphy-embed\" allowFullScreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/giphy.com\/gifs\/willandgrace-nbc-will-and-grace-3ov9jSzmObzhAtmy4w\">via GIPHY<\/a><\/p>\n<p><\/center><\/p>\n<p>Nah, I&#8217;m kidding: Those tricks are top secret. I will have a new video on Wednesday though. If you haven&#8217;t already subscribed to my <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCffTpc4r3ru3j5T6MwxsMVQ\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">YouTube channel<\/a>, do it now, so you don&#8217;t miss out.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It&#8217;s officially Dec. 23, 2017 (New York time), so it&#8217;s my birthday. I&#8217;m now halfway to &#8230; via GIPHY Holy shit! via GIPHY I remember the surprise party we had for my father&#8217;s 50th birthday like it was yesterday, but it was in 1989. I had recently turned 21 and I thought, &#8220;Wow, this age&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/2017\/12\/a-birthday-gifs-and-the-wisdom-of-sonny-rollins\/\">Read More &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":38497,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[669,148,594,41,550,161],"tags":[340],"class_list":{"0":"post-38338","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-about-wendy","8":"category-advice","9":"category-age","10":"category-pictures-of-me","11":"category-vintage-wendyb-photos","12":"category-words-of-wisdom","13":"tag-birthday","14":"entry"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38338","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38338"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38338\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38505,"href":"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38338\/revisions\/38505"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38497"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38338"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38338"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38338"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}