 |
| actual 25-year old jeff |
as we were talking and laughing, he made the comment that he was turing 27. ...or was it 28? either way, i was surprised. i was sure he was older than me. he looks older than me. plus, he's got wife and a kid, which are both things that only people older that me have.(..?)
anyway, i was surprised. and i bet that if you stood us next to each other, just about anyone would look at us and say that he's the older of the two of us. around the office and even at dinner tonight, i make jokes about me being "the kid" and there's just the general mood that i'm the youngster of our gang.
even though i'm 33.
i suppose it's because i'm a "student." that just makes it sound like i'm young, and that also leads to me being the extra food from meetings to "take home to [my] roommates." and yeah, i'm single and without child, another thing that is more common amongst young(er) people.
but also, i think i just act like i'm 25. a few weeks ago one of our friends was describing our house to her family. even though another roommate of mine is three years younger than me, she described him as the "mature" one and i think most people would guess that he's older than me. or, rather, i think people would pick that i'm younger. i think i was labeled "the fun one" or "the life of the party." but i still retain my right to invoke "patriarchal authority" amongst the roommates when necessary.
when my new bishop found out how old i was, he suddenly started using phrases like "working on transitioning you to a family ward," citing that "the age gap gets bigger and more awkward for the younger girls." i decided not to tell him that two of my closest friends in the ward were a couple of girls, age 19 and 20 (who were very much against me leaving the ward.)
the thing is, i still think of myself as being in my twenties (i mean, i'm also much more mature and tempered and wiser than when i was 25 and generally prefer the company of people around their 30s now, but that's not what we're talking about here.) and as i thought about it tonight, i concluded that i'm in grad school like a (non-byu) 25-year old, i have no young wife nor child like most 25-year olds, i'm in better physical shape than i was when i was 25, and i still live life like i'm 25. so, apart from what's on my driver's license and the extra years of life experience and stories, i don't see why i'm not.
3 comments:
k. this has caused introspection. so, a few things.
1. favorite line: "plus, he's got wife and a kid, which are both things that only people older that me have.(..?)"
2. when i was a freshman in high school, i was way into writing poetry (have we discussed this before?). now, from my journals we all (unfortunately) know that i wasn't the most....mature writer at that age. but for my freshman english class i chose to write poems and i specifically remember writing one called "the essence of age" or something. i can still remember parts of it almost verbatim. bottom line is that basically it stated that age is a state of mind, and i still go by that. i still suspect it is true and i shall use this post as confirming evidence of that hypothesis. we'll discuss sometime.
3. i still smork when i think of how old i was when we became friends. and i'm really glad they plopped me into group two when they did, so that we could start that friendship early on.
4. it's been a little weird: i've always thought myself as, and have been seen as the baby of the group (refer to #3 for an example). nowadays though, i'm one of the "older" ones in the program. maybe cuz i went to college for six years?
5. *coughhappybirthdaylastmonthcough*
;)
I am 31. Maturity wise I like to think of myself as about six years older, so about 37. However, I always mentally picture myself as 18 for some reason.
Age is a state of mind, not a state of person. So really, when asked "How old are you?" You, my friend, should reply "I'm ageless and freaking awesome!"
;)
can i get a hallelujah?
i feel ya. i feel like, 23. people generally guess i'm 24. i never get any guesses close to my actual age. which i like.
i wish i could lie. i'd just say i was 23 until it actually mattered... when does it matter?
ugh. and i never want to be "transitioned" into a family ward... i just went to a seminar about "transitioning" in the work place. as in, you were one sex and then you "transition" into the other sex while still working, and how we as management can better help them. maybe they need to have a transitioning committee to help us who've reached the ripe old age of "never married" back to the loudness of family ward.
sigh... :)
Post a Comment