When I was a kid I never understood why adults didn't want to tell you how old they were or why they told you they were younger when you knew they really weren't. On my 29th birthday for some reason, it all began to make sense. I don't know why 29 was so difficult for me. None of my birthdays have really bothered me since. But that one got to me. How can 29 be that difficult for crying out loud? You are still in your 20's. Your metabolism is still doing it's thing so weight control is easier. You don't need reading glasses. You don't have to take two days off from work each year for all the extra medical tests that are suddenly just part of the routine. When people ask for your ID when you purchase a bottle of wine, they don't make a joke about it, they are actually serious. Or worse yet, they don't just look up at you and then enter a random date in their register because you are OBVIOUSLY old enough. You don't have a huge group of friends who all talk about their grandchildren when you get together. When you attend weddings, you aren't the old, out of touch aunt, you're the life of the party! At work, if you do your job well, at 29 you can still be considered a "fast tracker". I mean, let's face it.... the beauties of being 29 are endless!
On my 29th birthday, I was working for the former employer who shall not be named. At the time, I worked in a district office here in Dallas, but lived in Conroe, so I traveled 5 days a week and kept in touch with all of my friends through email and the telephone. That was long before social networking and such. So, my friends began sending me emails early in the day saying happy birthday and so on. As the day progressed, they began to send me joke emails about senior citizen discounts that I was now eligible for and things like that. I knew that it was all meant as a joke, and normally I would have laughed my butt off. But that day it got to me and I spent the day in my office with the door closed crying. I don't think I ever told my friends how upset I had been that day. When I made it home for the weekend, they gave me a great surprise for my birthday and I was so happy, that none of the jokes mattered anymore.
It's weird how your perspective changes. I think I will actually be proud when I turn 50 this year. After all, to make it to half a century is a pretty big deal. I had thought that I would give myself a huge trip for my 50th birthday. But now that I am trying to get a new business off the ground and not making too much money so far, that will have to wait. Maybe my 51st birthday will be spent in a foreign land. After all, 51's pretty big too.... It's the kick off for your 2nd half century, right? My birthday is not for several months, so I still have a lot of time to think about this. But in the last few days several friends birthdays have come up and it has gotten me to thinking about mine as well.
If you are celebrating a birthday this week, I hope it is a great one. If it is your 50th, I'd appreciate a heads up prior to the date on whether or not your feelings would be hurt by jokes because I've got some real "zingers" just waiting to be unloaded. Have a great week.
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