Milestones. We call certain birthdays "milestones."
1: First birthday . . . celebrated with major fanfare . . . everyone gets invited
5: "I'm five; I get to go to school!"
10: "Finally . . . double digits"
13: "It's official . . . I'm a teenager, and my parents are embarrassing!"
16: "I'm getting my driver's license; dad can you buy me a car tonight?"
18: "I'm 18 now . . . an adult. I do what I want! You can't tell me what to do!!"
21: "Man, one more year of college, and I'm free . . . but first a beer!"
30: "Wait . . . what happened to those 20s?"
40: "This is just starting to get good, but why do my knees hurt?"
50: "Why didn't someone tell me I would reach 'middle age?' Oh wait, someone did . . . I just didn't listen."
60: "What do you mean I'm pushing 60?" What the *&%$# happened to 50?!?!?"
70: "You know, retirement is great!"
80: "I'm 80 now; I do what I want! You can't tell me what to do!"
90: "Can't believe I'm still alive!"
100: "Good grief . . . I've been here too long now . . . can I go home now?"
Really I'm just guessing at the 60-100 years since I'm not there yet!
But 21 . . .
Man, when I turned 21, I thought I knew everything! I showed everyone too!! I quit college . . . moved to Florida . . . actually moved in with Aunt Paige and Uncle Jim who subsequently had to "ask" me to leave because I acted pretty stupidly . . .
. . . found out the hard way that being an adult wasn't near as easy as it looked!
Suddenly I had to pay bills: rent, car insurance, electric and water bills, gas, a car payment . . . not to mention buying my own clothes and toilet paper! NOBODY tells you about the toilet paper because when you live with your parents that stuff just appears! Am I right?
That first summer I worked 3 or 4 jobs just to keep afloat! I tried to go back to college, but I just couldn't afford it . . . went to Travel School instead and became a travel agent. At least I made decent money doing that!
Thankfully I made it to about 27 when I started actually thinking again.
If you're between the ages of 16 and about 25 when you ask me about this, you're not going to believe any of it . . . I mean the part about how you don't really know anything yet. All kids think adults have no idea what they are saying. That's okay. Your turn will come.
Tommy, I pray you learn to treat your elders with respect!
Timothy 5:1-3 Do not rebuke an older man harshly, but exhort him as if he were your father. Treat younger men as brothers, 2older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity. 3Give proper recognition to those widows who are really in need.
And you know what? You need to read the book Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom.
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