Good-by 29, Hello 30

I'm leaving my 20's behind and despite the fact that my sister has teased me for months about getting old, I'm not bothered by it at all. A lot of remarkable things occurred over the last decade (OK, "decade" made me feel a little old). I met and married my husband, had two amazing children, graduated college, bought my first brand new car and our first home. There have been ups and downs along the way but I wouldn't change a thing. I'm grateful for all the experiences I've had and all the things I've learned from them. The next 10 years will no doubt bring challenges as well, but it also brings lots of new opportunities and adventures. My boys will go to school, maybe play a sport, an instrument, who knows what interests they'll develop. but we'll have fun watching them grow into young men. By the time the next decade has passed Collin will be 13 and Nick will be 11. They'll be teenagers and then I might feel old, but not yet. Turning 30 isn't exciting like 21, or even 25 when your car insurance rates go down, but it doesn't make you old either. I remember a time when I thought 30 was ancient. I was probably 10 or so and taking dance lessons. My instructor was telling us about college and how they have a cafeteria where you can get a hamburger any time you wanted. I thought that was the coolest thing I'd ever heard. 21 seemed really old then. I remember thinking that I was going to go to college, eat all the hamburgers I wanted, get married and have a baby by the time I was 21 (because that seemed so old and far away). As I got older, maybe 16 or so, I realized that 21 wasn't old at all and my plans changed. I went to college and ate more waffles with strawberries and whipped cream than hamburgers, but still thought it was pretty cool. I was almost 23 when I got married and 26 when I had Collin. That's still pretty young but a big improvement over 21. I guess when I was 21 I probably thought 30 was old but now that it's arrived, it's definitely not. I am not old, I'm just slightly more experienced and hopefully a little wiser. I keep thinking that I should feel something about turning 30 but I don't. I'm not particularly excited or dismayed, it's just another day, another milestone crossed. Maybe I'll feel differently on my actual birthday but for now, no big deal. So you can call me old all you want and maybe someday I'll actually get there, but I hope not. I have a friend who just turned 70 and I wouldn't call her old. Yes, the number is getting to be rather large, but she is definitely not old. Age is just a number, old is a state of mind. As long as your body doesn't have other plans for you, I think you can stay young forever and that is exactly what I plan to do. So bring on my 30's and every decade after that. I look forward to each and every day with all the joys and challenges that go along with them.