This isn't about us getting old (though with the way people are throwing around words like "career" and "networking" we may be) it's about getting really really old.
This weekend I went to my gramma's house for a visit, and she informed me that it was my great-grandmother's 92nd birthday. Being the patient granddaughter I am, I agreed to go to the little birthday lunch. This is where getting old comes in. This 92-year-old woman is a mere shell of the woman I knew to be my grandmother. She doesn't really know who we are, why we're there, or where she is. She can't believe it's her birthday, can't believe we're her family, and can't believe we knew that she loves almond joy candy bars. Having a conversation with her is what I imagine having a conversation with a goldfish would be like and the afternoon, though exciting for her, makes me feel that I should really cherish being 21.
Are we getting what we should out of youth? Or is it as they say it is, and "wasted on the young?"
fuck, i pressed backspace. i'll try to remember what my thoughts.
ReplyDeleteHow weird is it that I think you're grandmother is fairly young? After 100, you should probably stop counting. I hope you asked her what she wanted to come back as, I hope she said goldfish - that way she doesn't need to prepare much for the afterlife.
From what I've heard, there's much excitement in the latter 3/4 of our lives. We should hold onto our good looks and ability to pull all-nighters and avoid all social complaisance. From this point on, I'm going to try to recreate moments in my childhood. I think i'll start with a game of tag. I've figured out that most adults love recapturing their childhood. My proof? theres a whole land made of Legos! We're not too old, so it won't be creepy to act like kids. In fact, its expected.
What is it that we should be getting out of youth anyway? I've seemed to miss the memo. We've avoided pregnancies and arrests. We've done the travel thing, but we haven't yet started a band (perhaps you have). We've over drafted on our credit cards, drunk excessively with little consequence, and lived out from under our parents roofs. Next we must run with the bulls and jump off cliffs.