age is just a number

Getting older is a funny thing. At every age, I’ve felt like I’ve known it all. When I was a teenager, I was certain I knew more than my parents, and I am sure they just looked at me and thought, “just wait until you are older, you really have no idea.” When I was in my 20’s I was sure I knew it all as well as when I was in my 30’s. How is it even possible that I’ve always known more than those who have come before me or those who have come after me? It’s not. Now, at 41, I am sure I still know more than my mother and I’m sure she would beg to differ.


I look at young people in their 20’s with wonder. They think they have it all figured out, but I’ve maintained for a while now, that you really have no idea who you are until you’re 30.

As I get older, celebrities and sports figures keep getting younger. It is such an odd phenomenon. For a bit more than half of my life, the stars of TV and sports were always older than me. Then, the stars’ age became the same as mine. Then, in the blink of an eye, they all became younger than me. How the hell did that happen? It’s not like I am conscious of it, either. I just go along thinking I am young and hip just like the stars. Then, I see their birthdates with birth years, and say to myself, “holy hell!! That person was born after I graduated high school.” It’s just a strange thing that is hard for me to articulate.

Getting older is a wild freaking thing.

It’s not like I am old, but at 41, I could say it’s half over. Or, if the glass is half full: my life is half begun. Half. Half!

The first 25 years of my life took a looonnnnngggg time to happen; the second 15 years have flown by. My dad used to always tell me that as you get older, the time goes by so fast. He was so right.

And, I just laugh at myself thinking that at every decade, I am certain that I know more than people younger and older than me. Oh yeah, I have it allll figured out, can’t you tell?
Last night, I was driving home from our monthly girls’ dinner. It was a lovely evening, and I was loving my soul. Errr, I mean, my Soul, my Kia Soul. With the purchase of my Soul, I got Sirius satellite radio which means I have a station for every decade. Last night, I was listening to the 80’s station. The sunroof was open, the windows were down, and I was blaring my 80’s music. I approached a stoplight as “I’m Turning Japanese” was on the radio. I was bopping my head, and singing out loud, “I’m turning Japanese, I think I’m turning Japanese, I really think so”, and then I stop at the light, and next to me, is a car with a rap song playing, and the bass making my Soul shake, and I just giggled. I was bopping my head to my 80’s music while the youngin’ was blaring the bass. Yeah, I’m old.

But seriously, were the 80’s really that long ago??