The 100 Years Club Installment #147: October 3, 2025 is “F*DAY!”

October 3rd is a day filled with “fauxlidays” (fake holidays).

I coined that term back in 2017.

And now, I’m adding my own celebration to the list of weird non-holidays that you’ll find below.

TODAY IS F*DAY!

What does the F stand for?

Freedom, for starters. And it’s only fitting because my personal brand is NANCYAF.com. 

WHY F*DAY?

Since I was born, my life has been influenced (and often scheduled) by others. 

• We go to school at five, and our bedtimes, class schedules, after-school activities, and even our meals are dictated to us.
• As a girl growing up in the 1960s, I was told to “behave” and not indulge in boy games and studies.

• The 1970s marked the beginning of the “liberation” era, but I found myself pushed to enter “the man’s world” rather than pursuing my true passions.

• Making a living was critically important during the “greed is good” era in the 1980s, and I leaned in hard. The message was “you can do it all!” so I had two daughters, a super-stressful job, live-in childcare, a mortgage, a long (3-hour daily) commute, and no technology to balance work and life. Women were in the vast minority in my industry, and HR didn’t exist at the beginning of that era. Humanity was sucked out of us. I even went to work with a collapsed lung, and while I was in labor. Women today have no idea!
• After finally getting to the C-suite, I realized my life was complicated and out of control. And corporations were becoming progressively more cutthroat and less respectful.

• So, I left in 2003 to start my own business, only to find that I was often at the mercy of my clients’ needs and whims, as well as the economy (UGH…the 2007/2008 recession, during which I lost everything I’d built, including my marriage).
• Just when I thought I could breathe a little easier, my mother developed blood cancer, and I moved west to be closer to her and settle her estate when she passed away. On a happy note, my daughters got married and had kids of their own. Once a mother, always a mother! 
• Throughout the 2000s, I worked hard, stayed ahead of trends (especially tech and AI), and often put myself last in terms of priorities and focus. I was told I was officially “unemployable” by a recruiter during that era. It was proven when I applied for various corporate and freelance roles. So, I’ve remained a free agent for the past 22 years. 
• Last year, when I turned 69, I launched my personal brand NANCYAF. I still take on consulting and content gigs if I respect the client and love the work, but I wrapped-up a big project on October 1st. I fasted and atoned on Yom Kippur (October 2nd). I’ve now, I’ve declared October 3rd F*DAY. The F stands for all of these words in addition to FREEDOM!

This day represents the first day of my entire life where I have close to 100% control over what I do for work and play, who I spend my time with, and, most importantly, what impact I can leave over the next 31 (minimum) years until I join the 800K+ people who live to be 100.

Although we live in a world that leads people (especially women) to believe that they are invisible and even worthless after 50, I believe I’m just getting started because FINALLY (another F-word), I am FINANCIALLY confident and FIT to make an impact on the lives and beliefs of others. I’m creating “The Silver Hair Playbook” (the way of life and inspo for others like me). And the next three decades will be the most F*cking Fantastic ones to date! I have a short list of things I may do next.

So, FOLLOW me on the wild ride!

In the days, months, and years ahead (31 at least), I will:

1. Play big
2. Know my value
3. Stress less
4. Be healthy & curious & free & kind
5. Bust ageism
6. Inspire others
7. Have fun!

By the way, I find that AI (which I used to generate some of the pix in this post) can be liberating! It saves hours of times on tedious tasks and enables me to be more creative.

Declare your own F*DAY, no matter what stage of life and work you’re in.

I hope you don’t have to wait 69+ years (25,438 days, to be precise).

In celebration, I’m going to share with you some random (and perhaps useful) facts):

	Here are some actual weird “fauxlidays” that fall on October 3rd too. I’m not a mean girl and I don’t have a boyfriend, but I am techy and I smile a lot. I guess that’s also cause for celebration!
	Let’s keep FRIENDSHIP alive!
	Is free speech dying? (I sure as hell hope not!) Here’s how celebs are fighting censorship.
	FREE yourself from your phone (or is it fone?). Here’s the impact of a digital de-tox.