Today is my 24th birthday. Happy birthday to me. Our attempt to make a fun birthday was, shall we say, a bit of a wash, but that story is not important. In a nutshell, we should really make sure that the bar will be open before we drive there for a celebratory pint. Lesson learned.
But that's not what I want to talk about now. I want to talk about life--metaphysics disguised as physics. When my mom called me to wish me a happy birthday, I found myself waxing into a wistful soliloquy about how 24 feels "old". I'm in my mid-twenties now, I told her. That just feels... old. My mom (who is quite a bit older than 24) assured me that, no, 24 is in no way old. I have my whole life before me. There's plenty of time. Mom reminded me that she was 24 when she got married. I'm 24 and I've already been married three years. I also have two degrees and a false-start on a third. So I guess, yeah, I've done a lot already and there's plenty of time to do more.
The thing is, though, I still feel old (despite the fact that I still get carded, without fail, and that people tell me I look like I'm 19). I've lived almost a quarter of a century! Luke has lived a quarter of a century. In my lifetime, computers became household staples, the Berlin Wall fell, two wars were begun by the US, and Osama bin Laden was killed. On a personal scale, I've spent 24 years learning to walk and talk, graduating from high school and college and grad school, meeting Luke and then marrying him, hitting lows so deep I never thought I'd climb out, and striking highs so dizzying that I developed emotional vertigo. If all this is the bounty of my first 24, that sets quite the standard for the next 24 and the next after that...
And after that? I think that is the most shocking thing about my current age--realizing that I might only get to do this much a couple more times. If I'm one of the few people who lives to be 100, I only have three more 24-year segments left to live. If the next 76 years go as quickly as the past 24 have, I'll be dead and gone in what seems like the blink of an eye. It makes me even more eager to get out of here, get back to the northeast, get started on what I think is really important.
On that note, one of my birthday presents is hopefully going to be very useful in the next few years. Luke gave me a book called "The Profitable Hobby Farm: how to build a sustainable local foods business". Just in flipping through it, I can see that there's lots to learn if our dreams are going to become a reality! I also got a game called Bananagrams, which is not useful but is very fun.
So I am an ancient 24 year old. I have been alive for almost a quarter of a century and I've done a hell of a lot with my life. And I hope I'm going to do a lot more.
--Allison
But that's not what I want to talk about now. I want to talk about life--metaphysics disguised as physics. When my mom called me to wish me a happy birthday, I found myself waxing into a wistful soliloquy about how 24 feels "old". I'm in my mid-twenties now, I told her. That just feels... old. My mom (who is quite a bit older than 24) assured me that, no, 24 is in no way old. I have my whole life before me. There's plenty of time. Mom reminded me that she was 24 when she got married. I'm 24 and I've already been married three years. I also have two degrees and a false-start on a third. So I guess, yeah, I've done a lot already and there's plenty of time to do more.
The thing is, though, I still feel old (despite the fact that I still get carded, without fail, and that people tell me I look like I'm 19). I've lived almost a quarter of a century! Luke has lived a quarter of a century. In my lifetime, computers became household staples, the Berlin Wall fell, two wars were begun by the US, and Osama bin Laden was killed. On a personal scale, I've spent 24 years learning to walk and talk, graduating from high school and college and grad school, meeting Luke and then marrying him, hitting lows so deep I never thought I'd climb out, and striking highs so dizzying that I developed emotional vertigo. If all this is the bounty of my first 24, that sets quite the standard for the next 24 and the next after that...
And after that? I think that is the most shocking thing about my current age--realizing that I might only get to do this much a couple more times. If I'm one of the few people who lives to be 100, I only have three more 24-year segments left to live. If the next 76 years go as quickly as the past 24 have, I'll be dead and gone in what seems like the blink of an eye. It makes me even more eager to get out of here, get back to the northeast, get started on what I think is really important.
On that note, one of my birthday presents is hopefully going to be very useful in the next few years. Luke gave me a book called "The Profitable Hobby Farm: how to build a sustainable local foods business". Just in flipping through it, I can see that there's lots to learn if our dreams are going to become a reality! I also got a game called Bananagrams, which is not useful but is very fun.
So I am an ancient 24 year old. I have been alive for almost a quarter of a century and I've done a hell of a lot with my life. And I hope I'm going to do a lot more.
--Allison
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