Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Is Age just a Number?

For me, it is just a number. Literally, my age is a total 'guess', my birthdate was estimated, at least this is what I think happened. Being 'abandoned' in Korea then placed in the hospital, my first known place of where I was in Korea. Isn't that weird? My two oldest kids were born in a hospital, so that is also their first known place of where they 'were'. But, unlike my kids, I do not have the knowledge of my birthplace, I can place a name to my kids' hospitals and cities. My youngest daughter, she too is adopted from Korea. Her known birthplace, I just read it again on her papers, but with not knowing the geography of Korea, I really don't know 'where exactly' her birthplace is. I know the city though and surprised to see it on the map.

I have deviated from the title of this blog...this wasn't about my age or even about me since it was my husband's birthday yesterday. He is four months older than I am, but I love to point out to him that he is SO much older than I am, I do this to him every year. He just shakes his head at me. If he is four months older than I am, does that make us the 'same' age? Let's not get too technical here. (Actually in Korea, I am considered 41 years old already, but like I said, let's not get too technical here)

My oldest daughter will be turning 17 this Sunday. So why do I not feel like I am old enough to be a mother of a 17 year old? Do I look 'old enough'? I don't have gray hair, my hubby does though so he does get mistaken for being older than he is. Does gray hair make a person look older?

What else makes a person look older? Wrinkles? Posture? Teeth? Hair style? Clothes? What about a person's job title? The type of house one lives in; the type of car one drives? Nowadays, ALL of those things can be altered in some way. And for some, living beyond one's means is the way they choose to go to try and achieve what they think they have pictured in their heads. Is that worth it?

We are all judged by first impressions. I have been judged all my life because I am a different race. Kids are cruel, but let's face it, adults are just as cruel and where do our kids learn to judge in the first place? BUT! No matter if a person is a different race or not, we are all judged because of something different. It's all about growing up and maturing. It's tough growing up though no matter who you are.

To me, age is just a number. I act goofy, I love jokes, I love being funny, that attitude got me thru a lot in my life and still does(I got my sense of humor from my father, thanks dad!). But then there are the times when I have to turn on the 'maturity switch' and I am very good at that. I learned that from a very young age. I 'had' to act this way and not that way. In public, there were set expectations as to how I was to act. But I don't like to be so serious all the time, so what you see is what you get!

By the way, I love being married to an 'older' man!

1 comment:

AMY said...

I had to laugh at this one. You know exactly when and where to throw on the maturity switch. That is one of the things I love so much about you. I'm not that weird over getting closer to the next decade. I get weird when I think of other things that are almost forty and a lot of times they are outdated, broken or really faded. I think that the older I get the better life gets. The older I get the easier things roll off of my back. The older I get the easier it is to stop and smell the roses. I just have to stop comparing myself to the outdated hand-me-down tuperware and or old bathroom towels.