Sunday, February 19, 2006

Age & Life

I came to a conclusion a long time ago that age is nothing but a number. It is all about how you feel. If you feel young, you are young. If you feel old, you are old. I came to this conclusion when my grandfather turned 90 (approach. 7 years ago). He did not look his age. You see my Opa (German for grandpa) was an amazing person. He lived till a few weeks prior to his 97 birthday. He passed August 2004.

My Oma had died July 1998. Since then he was living on his own, driving (even though he shouldn't have), going out, etc. He was a total social butterfly and the life of the party. He was the youngest 90 year old person I knew. He died the way he wanted to; in his house, in his slept, with hospice care.

He felt young, therefore he was young.

There are a few exceptions to this theory. A boy must be 13 to have his Bar-Mitzvah, a girl can be either 12 or 13. You must be 16 to get your drivers permit in Massachusetts. You want to vote, buy cigarettes, and/ or porn...you must be 18. Wanna buy that 6-pack of beer? You need to be 21. Need to rent a car, you must be 25.

I just turned 26 on Friday. I don't feel any different. I feel great & young, but adult at the same time. So I did some math. I added the digits of my age together to come up with my actual age. 2 + 6 = 8. 8 seems about right!!