Golden Oldie

I am officially half way to 50.

While many people recently partied in honour of the LGBTQ community or the birth of our nation, a few lovely individuals also added my milestone to their long-weekend celebrations.

Birthday bubbly (served right after the waiter asked if I was old enough to drink)

That’s right. I have reached my “mid-twenties.” I’ve always wondered why people say “congratulations” for birthdays when they are really just the fact that you managed to survive the passing of time, but looking back at my past two-and-a-half decades, I realized that I have accomplished a lot to get this point.

I've learned:

1. How to hold my head up on my own—literally and figuratively. 
2. How to talk, read, write, use the bathroom, and sleep through the night—although some of those I am more proficient at than others. 
3. Tying your hair back as tight as humanly possible is not a great look. In fact it makes me look like I’ve had a terrible facelift. 
4. Braces suck but they are totally worth the years of cut cheeks, awkward photos, and popcorn deprivation. 
5. There is no such thing as “fancy” sweatpants. 
6. Getting carded is not an inconvenience, it’s freaking flattering. 
7. Real life is way harder than it appears on Friends . 
8. Not everything has to be perfect all the time. For example, sometimes, you can live dangerously and list eight things instead of a classic ten. 

According to common estimations, reaching 25 means that I’m about a quarter-of-the-way through my life. But, looking ahead is much harder than looking back. I don’t know what the next few years will bring, what I will learn, who I will meet, or where I will end up.

All I can hope is that no matter what, I’ll never be too old to feel young.