Aging is a funny thing. When you're a young kid, you can't wait to get older. Being older means that you can take on important adult responsibilities, stay up really late and eat whatever you want for dinner. But when you do become older, you usually wish that you were young again. Being young means that you have the ability to avoid important adult responsibilities, the energy to stay up really late and the metabolism to eat whatever you want for dinner without it making your jeans feel tighter the next day.
Many people get depressed when they turn 30. I didn't. But I was a little disturbed when I found a gray hair this past Christmas morning (merry Christmas to me!). And I was a lot disturbed when I threw out my back last week. I literally could not sit or stand up without your dad's help and I had to wear a menthol-scented Bengay patch that made me smell just like the menthol-scented senior citizens waiting in line at the Duane Reade pharmacy counter. I know I am a long way off from wrinkles, dentures and bingo nights at the YMCA but it was still a humbling experience. I felt helpless, embarrassed and very old.
When I was 16, I thought 16 was the best age ever. I could get my driver's license! I was allowed to get an after-school job! I was a junior in high school and could enjoy the privileges of being an upperclassman (the junior lounge! prom!) without the scary college responsibilities that seniors had. I remember thinking that I wanted to stay 16 forever. But when I was 16, I didn't have any stamps in my passport. I didn't have the recipe for the best pumpkin chocolate chip cookies ever. I didn't have many of the amazing friends I have today, whom I met in and after college. I didn't have the appreciation for my parents that you only get when you move away from home and don't get to see your parents every day anymore. And I didn't have Daddy or you. So you know what? Bring on the gray hairs, the back pain, the bingo nights. I'm pretty glad that I have gotten older and that I didn't stay 16 forever.
Love,
Mom
When I was 16, I thought 16 was the best age ever. I could get my driver's license! I was allowed to get an after-school job! I was a junior in high school and could enjoy the privileges of being an upperclassman (the junior lounge! prom!) without the scary college responsibilities that seniors had. I remember thinking that I wanted to stay 16 forever. But when I was 16, I didn't have any stamps in my passport. I didn't have the recipe for the best pumpkin chocolate chip cookies ever. I didn't have many of the amazing friends I have today, whom I met in and after college. I didn't have the appreciation for my parents that you only get when you move away from home and don't get to see your parents every day anymore. And I didn't have Daddy or you. So you know what? Bring on the gray hairs, the back pain, the bingo nights. I'm pretty glad that I have gotten older and that I didn't stay 16 forever.
Love,
Mom
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