And now I'm old
I recently became 29 years old. Honestly, it didn't feel like I'd become older. It never does, either. Birthday's are kind of non-events. At least until this point in my life, they never make me feel older. Not at first. Trouble is, a day or two after my birthday I was talking with my wife, reminiscing really, and I said something like "remember X from a few years ago, back when I was 25?" That was when I felt old. To be thinking back on when I was 25. To have that realization that it was a fuzzy memory of when I was 25. Something about that really pushed me over. That was when it hit me that I was finally getting on in my years. Twenty-five was one of those milestones that you look forward to. For years and years 25 was in front of me, and now I was looking back at it. Fondly. Hellllllloooooo!!! Can you hear me anymore? I can barely make you out on the horizon behind me!
Now, you'd be right to think that I probably had the same sort of realization when my son was born, that suddenly stomach dropping feeling of being older. Mostly though, it wasn't that I felt old when he was born, but that I suddenly felt the finality of my life. There was something about having a child that really made me think about my own mortality. Somehow it had not felt so real, so imminent, until I had my son. Now, it doesn't feel like I'm going to die soon, just that it will happen.
Now, here I am, 29 and mortal. I really wish I could go back to 22 and be immortal again. Things were so much easier back then.
That's not true though. I don't want to be 22 again. I like where I am. Think about it, I'm 29, yes, but look at my accomplishments: I own a single family home, I have a great career (not just a job), I have a beautiful baby boy, and I have a loving, wonderful wife. I think that, as far as milestones go, I've done really well for being 29. Sure, I've never been to Europe; I have not seen the grand canyon; I never conquered a foreign nation; I never owned a sporty car; I never saw attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion or watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate. Still, despite that, I've done well, and I'm really happy with where I've gotten.
There's still plenty of time for that other shit when the market rebounds in 2013 anyway. And if I've learned anything from my parents and my grandfather, it's that if you exercise regularly and eat (mostly) healthy, you can still be active well into your 80s. (Yes, health class in high school and college said the same thing, but that was just academic, my elders are living it.)
Now, you'd be right to think that I probably had the same sort of realization when my son was born, that suddenly stomach dropping feeling of being older. Mostly though, it wasn't that I felt old when he was born, but that I suddenly felt the finality of my life. There was something about having a child that really made me think about my own mortality. Somehow it had not felt so real, so imminent, until I had my son. Now, it doesn't feel like I'm going to die soon, just that it will happen.
Now, here I am, 29 and mortal. I really wish I could go back to 22 and be immortal again. Things were so much easier back then.
That's not true though. I don't want to be 22 again. I like where I am. Think about it, I'm 29, yes, but look at my accomplishments: I own a single family home, I have a great career (not just a job), I have a beautiful baby boy, and I have a loving, wonderful wife. I think that, as far as milestones go, I've done really well for being 29. Sure, I've never been to Europe; I have not seen the grand canyon; I never conquered a foreign nation; I never owned a sporty car; I never saw attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion or watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate. Still, despite that, I've done well, and I'm really happy with where I've gotten.
There's still plenty of time for that other shit when the market rebounds in 2013 anyway. And if I've learned anything from my parents and my grandfather, it's that if you exercise regularly and eat (mostly) healthy, you can still be active well into your 80s. (Yes, health class in high school and college said the same thing, but that was just academic, my elders are living it.)