Maturity Knocks

Today is my birthday. At approximately 5:30am on this date in 1963 I was brought into this world, no doubt kicking and screaming. And if you can do the math in your head you already know how old I am. Today I am 46. I pass on the mantle of having my age match speed limit signs to my wife and I move on.

Usually this would not be considered a milestone birthday. It doesn't end with a zero or a five. You can't go to the store and buy "You're 46!" birthday cards. But in many ways this is more of a milestone for me than turning 45 was.

I am closer to 50 than I am to 40. I am now closer to 90 than I am to the day I was born. I am on three maintenance medications, including one for cholesterol and another for blood pressure. Indeed, I should be well on my way to becoming a stately, and dare I say seasoned, middle-age man. In short, Maturity is knocking.

I've been dodging Maturity for a long time. I have acted like I'm 12 most of the time, and have not sat around reading Homer or Shakespeare. I've been more likely to play a video games than read a newspaper. I've had lightsabre fights with my nephews, and enjoyed every one of them. I've had a ball playing laser tag, even though it always showed me how out of shape I was.

Lately, though, I haven't been playing video games so much. My lightsabre broke a couple of years back and I have not replaced it. And recently I actually started reading a book about the origins of civilization.

Now that I'm on the downward slope to 50, maybe it's time to open the door and let Maturity in. Maybe I should put away my Beanie Baby named Gizmo, and get rid of my silly pirate costume. Maybe I should let my mind calcify along with my arteries and become a set-in-my-ways, crotchety old man. Maybe I should.

However, after careful consideration, I have decided that I have this to say to Maturity...


All of that might sound just fine for someone else, but it just doesn't sound like me. So I'm gonna play with the Captain Teague action figure that came with my new copy of Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. I'm gonna be overjoyed that I also got the 20th anniversary edition of Tron for my birthday. I'm gonna wear my Indiana Jones hat and fantasize about finding lost cities. I'm gonna use "gonna" instead of "going to"! So there!

And now if you'll excuse me, I have a play-date with a friend to play video games on his Xbox 360.