I turn 26 in three days.
26. Twenty six. The atomic number of iron. The number of letters in our alphabet. The number of sides on a rhombicuboctahedron. The number of miles in a marathon. Jersey number of Scottish soccer star Andy Robertson for Liverpool. It's a cool number. Yet, it's not the most sexy birthday. Not like 16 where I get a birthday party where I arrive on an elephant to a Veterans Hall (I didn't have a Sweet 16) or 21 where you black out (again, didn't do that. Just got a free taste of vanilla vodka at my local liquor store and hated every part of it). No, at 26, I just am not allowed to get injured because I get kicked off my mother's health insurance. Welcome to 26! Now you have to pay for your inhaler and antidepressant! The only birthday where I actually lose money. It's not that I'm not excited for my 26th birthday. It's just hard to really get excited anymore. I'm finishing grad school with the minimum amount in my simple savings account, gaining weight in my stomach, I don't own land, I don't have a Roth IRA account, and I also don't even know what a Roth IRA account is. Just look at the other famous 26 year olds! Dua Lipa, Doja Cat, Timothee Chalamet, Kendall Jenner, Florence Pugh. I know their names. They don't know mine! Why am I not a rich, famous, hot celebrity who can summon anything I desire by just making eye contact with anyone. Even the non-famous people that I know had it more figured it out than me by 26. My parents had been married for two years at this point. My oldest brother had a dog and a house. My other brother was teaching the next generation of leaders while I'm just struggling to spell restaruntat. But, I also am about to graduate grad school from Columbia. I've been to 3 countries. I've seen the Steelers win the Super Bowl twice and the United States women team win the World Cup. I have a healthy lifestyle and great relationships with my friends, family, and partner. I saw a Bald Eagle fly over my head in western PA and had a squirrel try to climb me in the Boston Commons (I was his Mt Everest). I'm in therapy for depression. I remember the Alamo. One time my brother shot a nerf gun at me and I swung a baseball bat and deflected it away from me perfectly. I've seen the cinematic classic Shrek. I got to see Florence + The Machine live in concert. I got my kayaking merit badge in Boy Scouts. I'm still trying to do a standing backflip but I appreciate my effort. I won an interdisciplinary film competition. And just the other day, a puppy met me for the first time and ran up to me for butt scratches. I'm not behind. I'm exactly where I need to be. Which is alive and breathing. I turn 26 in three days!
0 Comments
|
Rob EnglishJust a kid from Pittsburgh trying to figure out my place in the world and write some things along the way. Archives
February 2024
Categories |