WHEN DID THEY FEEL THAT THEY BECAME ADULTS

WHEN DID THEY FEEL THAT THEY BECAME ADULTS

(Defining Moments)

ADULT – n.- a man or woman who is fully grown; a mature person.  Adj. - having reached full size and strength.

SENIOR – adj. – being the older of two; of higher office or rank; referring to the last year of high school or college.  N.- one who is older or of higher rank.

  Growing up I was led to believe that the magic age of 18 made me an adult.  Just as 13 made me a teenager, 16 allowed me to drive, 18 to sign up to go to war or to get married.  21 back then, now 18, to vote.  Legal drinking age was 21 lowered to 18 or 19 depending where you were.

  As a teenager I thought I knew everything and that adults were dumb.  I remember thinking that my mom was old and done when she turned 40.

  Then my 18^th birthday came and went.  Over the years I began to see how stupid I’d been, the big know it all that I believed me to be.  I soon understood how patient the adults had been, seeing all after all.

  Years of school learning to prepare for adulthood.  I played my role well for family and friends by getting married at age 21.  What was supposed to be for life lasted 2 years, so much for school teaching me how to live life.

  The rest of my 20’s were spent acting like a teenager, years that I had lost because I was so shy.  A period of my life when I regressed, acting like a kid, instead of acting my age.  25 was huge for I thought that a ¼ of a century was a hell of a long time.  For many years I would glide back and forth from what I still called home to living on my own.  I would arrive with my suitcase full of laundry for my mom to do, taking advantage in so many ways.  Always leaving with care packages and money too.   

 

  Advice I rejected, as I was still rebelling.  Still using my parents, while trying to break free from their grasp.  Wanting to grow up, yet scared to be me.  Still trying to succeed by pleasing society.  Learning by trial and error as I tread through my life, for none of my schooling had taught me a thing I could use. 

  On through my 30’s, then I turned 40, and no surprise, it’s not old after all.  Still wondering when adulthood would begin, I wandered through life.  The ½ century mark has come and gone.  Starting to enjoy the senior’s discounts offered at 55, 62 or 65 depending on which restaurant you are in, as well as monthly senior’s movies to be enjoyed too.    

   

  This year will 60, collecting C.P.P.  Then comes 65 and the O.A.S pension, well you know the rest.  No sense in speeding up the process, for just like mom said, “The years go by faster, the older you get.”

  I thought the dictionary might help answer your question, but now I’m confused, for you see it’s well known that when you get older you shrink and get weaker.  So now I am wondering if the moment of becoming an ‘adult’ is when you have reached full size and strength and has nothing to do with emotional maturity after all.

By Lynn Keeling  (Feb 10, 2009)