I was twenty-one years when I wrote this song
When I was much younger, I often wondered what it would be like to be an adult. I also wondered how long I would have to wait until I finally was one. By my mid-teens, I had decided that I was no longer a child, but I was still a kid. (This was no doubt inspired by the proclamation made by Ariel of The Little Mermaid; "I'm sixteen years old! I'm not a child!") When I turned eighteen, I recognized that I was a "legal adult", but this meant little to me in terms of actual adulthood.
I turned twenty-one years old today, and I want to resist declaring that I am suddenly an adult, or even that I've slowly become one over the past few years; at the same time, it seems patently bizarre to try to say that I'm not an adult. There are many people my age and younger who are now self-sufficient and gainfully employed. There are people now three years younger than me whose gainful employment consists of being on the other side of the world risking their lives. (There but for the grace of God go I, I suppose.)
Today is my birthday; it is a happy and joyous occasion, as it always is. Anna and Josh called with birthday wishes before I went to sleep this morning, as did Cord, with whom I was up until 5 AM trying to write a computer algorithm with to solve a particular mathematics problem. I woke up late, watched some Star Trek: Voyager, received many wishes via email, phone, and Facebook, and enjoyed a fantastic steak prepared by my motherd with some cabernet sauvignon (prepared by some Chileans). Soon I am going out with Ben to celebrate my birthday. All is good. Yet, even still, this is the oddest birthday I think I've experienced; I'm still trying to make sense of everything.
I probably never will understand this in any full capacity, but that (as you are probably well aware) won't stop me from trying.
Love,
~Kenny
I turned twenty-one years old today, and I want to resist declaring that I am suddenly an adult, or even that I've slowly become one over the past few years; at the same time, it seems patently bizarre to try to say that I'm not an adult. There are many people my age and younger who are now self-sufficient and gainfully employed. There are people now three years younger than me whose gainful employment consists of being on the other side of the world risking their lives. (There but for the grace of God go I, I suppose.)
Today is my birthday; it is a happy and joyous occasion, as it always is. Anna and Josh called with birthday wishes before I went to sleep this morning, as did Cord, with whom I was up until 5 AM trying to write a computer algorithm with to solve a particular mathematics problem. I woke up late, watched some Star Trek: Voyager, received many wishes via email, phone, and Facebook, and enjoyed a fantastic steak prepared by my motherd with some cabernet sauvignon (prepared by some Chileans). Soon I am going out with Ben to celebrate my birthday. All is good. Yet, even still, this is the oddest birthday I think I've experienced; I'm still trying to make sense of everything.
I probably never will understand this in any full capacity, but that (as you are probably well aware) won't stop me from trying.
Love,
~Kenny