What It Means to See 73 (When You Never Thought You Would)
Dear Son,
Today’s my birthday.
Seventy-three.
That number still feels strange when I say it out loud. Not because I’m trying to stay young, but because there was a time—more than one, actually—when I didn’t think I’d see it.
I drank for over 25 years before I stopped.
Smoked a couple decades before I quit that, too.
Lived hard. Burned bridges. Numbed pain.
Missed moments I can never get back.
When I got sober in December of 1993, I wasn’t betting on longevity. I just didn’t want to die that way.
When I quit smoking in 2000, it wasn’t because I thought I’d become a writer someday or that people would read my thoughts. I just wanted to breathe easier.
And now, here I am.
Still breathing.
Still writing.
Still waking up each morning with a cup of coffee and something to say.
I won’t pretend that everything’s rosy at 73. Some days the body hurts. Some days the memories hit harder than they used to. But something else has taken root in me that I never had when I was younger:
Peace.
The kind you can only earn.
The kind that doesn’t come from money, or approval, or a second shot of whiskey.
The kind that comes from staying. Staying with the pain. Staying with the truth.
Staying with the people who matter—and staying with yourself.
If I had a son, I’d want him to hear this:
Don’t count yourself out.
Don’t let your past decide how much life you’ve got left in you.
You never know what kind of man you’ll become once you stop trying to be someone you’re not.
There’s a kind of miracle in making it to an age you didn’t think you’d reach.
Not the flashy kind. The quiet kind.
And if you're lucky, you live long enough to turn your regrets into lessons—and your survival into a story someone else might need to hear.
So yeah, I’m 73 today.
And I’m still here.
Still learning.
Still loving.
Still doing my best to make it count.
Until next time,
Fred
Grateful to be 73. Grateful to be writing this. Grateful to be alive.
📌 This letter was written by Fred Ferguson (GeezerWise). If it spoke to you, I’d love to hear back—just hit reply.
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—Fred [GeezerWise]
Happy birthday, Fred!