Thankful Thursday

I’ve recently found, or have been found, by way back friends on FaceBook. High school friends, and even a few from elementary school. I have my myPod on Shuffle Songs and “Sweet Child O Mine” by Guns and Roses just came on.

I feel old.

Some of the folks I’ve found look the same as I remember them, some of them even better! But a lot of them, look, well, old. Of course, comparing other “27” year olds to my memory of them as 16 really isn’t fair. That’s all I got though. They don’t look their age, the just look, old! Marriages, divorces, children, jobs, military service, wars, tragedy…LIFE has taken its toll. They look old.

How did this happen?

And it makes me sad to think that these same people are looking at my photos on FB, all these years later, thinking, “Wow, That Pink Girl looks…old!” ‘Cause I sure can’t hold up to my 16 year old self after all these years. Again, not a fair comparison.

I look at old photos of me and Hubs. We’ve been married for nearly 8 years and we dated for a loooong time before that. And we look so young in those old photos! Even in our wedding pictures, which feels about 2 weeks ago, we look so much younger! When did we get so, so, old? Where did the time go?

I text. I Twitter. I blog. I know who all the cool new artists are. I still shop in the Juniors section. (sometimes)

But that doesn’t change the fact that I’m barreling quickly into, gasp, adulthood and, bigger gasp, middle age.

I AM old.

Yeah, I’m not the same size I was in high school. I’ve got a few wrinkles on my mug. I might have found one gray hair. (just one and I keep removing the offending strand each time I find it…when will it get the message?) And no, I haven’t accomplished everything my 16 year old self hoped to accomplish.

BUT.

My life is great! I’m so blessed. I’m healthy, I’m happy, I have a great job, I travel; I have a very full life. I’ve got great friends, a loving family and a husband that takes the cake. In a world where many undeveloped counties have an average life expectancy of under 50, heck yes I’m old! And my chances are pretty good that I’ll get even older.

Whoo hoo!

I’m so thankful for each and every day I’ve had. I’m and thankful for each additional day God choose to bless me with.

As John Lennon wrote,

Grow old along with me
The best is yet to be
When our time has come
We will be as one
God bless our love
God bless our love

And for clarification, I'm "27" not actually 27. Each year I celebrate the anniversary of my 27th birthday. I figured, it was a good year, why not? ;o)