It's October -- the birthday month

This is the month that I turn 60 -- 17 days from now. But October is a big birthday month for my entire family. My Mom's birthday is Oct. 27, my brother's is Oct. 8 and my sister's is Oct. 6.

Then there's my dear friend Kathy, who also turns 60 this month. She reaches that magic milestone on Oct. 6. Yes, she is older than me -- by 12 days -- and I never let her forget it. In fact, in five days, she will be in her 60s and I'll still be in my 50s.

On Saturday, Kathy's daughter is throwing a big birthday bash for her. It'll be fun. There's a group of our friends who have birthdays this time of the year, and we've had some great celebrations.

This occasion reminds me of a wonderful list of the most important things invented in the past 2,000 years. The entry that I like the most is reading glasses, which was suggested by a New York professor. His reasoning was simple: Reading glasses have been crucial to our development and "prevented the world from being ruled by people under 40."

So I raise my glass -- and my reading glasses -- in salute to the month of October. It is where this journey to 60 ends, and where another one begins. Cheers.