Terami.com Blog

I'm not the only one who creates goals and milestones according to arbitrary dates on the calendar. For example: On January 1, I will start matching my socks, stop brushing my teeth with leprosy inducing toothpaste, and lose 25 pounds.

And on other random days, say...March 1... I might pledge to start celebrating my ever-increasing age.

On Sunday, my mom took us out for a birthday dinner at an outrageous fondue restaurant. Four courses. This means:

1. bread and cheese
2. salad
3. meats and veggies
4. fruit/cheesecake/brownie/pound cake and chocolate

Afterwards, I was a happy, gastronomical barge.

But the best part was when she looked at me and stated this sobering fact: For the first time, I am more than half her age. And with each coming year, I will be gaining on her.

This was a strange observation, mostly because it's clearly something she was thinking about. Like, she's been waiting all these years for this day to finally arrive. Mom, I adore you, but it's funny that you weren't thinking, Ooooh, it's my baby's birthday...where has the time gone? Instead, you were thinking, Ooooh, good! She's catching up. How do you like them apples, darlin'? And, mom, I'm saying this with love. Cuz I know you're glad I was born, and that my wee baby feet and hands are some of your fondest memories.

But I have to wonder when we made the transition from celebrating birthdays, to dreading them. After 21, there's no more reward brought by age. Except at 25, you can rent a car. At 40, you get Over the Hill jokes. And at 50, you can join AARP. So, does that mean we never really celebrate our age, as much as we celebrate the privilege that certain years bring?

Many of my friends are depressed during their birthday month. They tally up the incomplete areas of their life and judge themselves against where they thought they'd be. I don't do this. As much. Yeah, I wish I was a decade younger, but only if I could carry the insight these 10 years have brought me. Because without this perspective, I would re-live my years in exactly the same fashion. Bringing me to precisely where I am.

And as Bridget Bardot says, "It is sad to grow old, but nice to ripen." If she can say it, so can I.

Besides, I will always be younger than JLo.

That's all I ask for.