Happy Birthday to Me

Happy Birthday to me

As of today, I am thirty five years old.

When I was a child, thirty five seemed astoundingly old while now, it doesn't seem like I have grown up at all. Which, I suppose, is a little bit on an issue for me, at least in terms of development and things like that...maybe I am the overgrown child that I often claim to be.

If I am lucky, I will live another thirty five years, and I like that. The concept of dying on the day of my birth creates a certain symmetry in my mind that I do fine enjoyable.

If I die at 70, TEA will be 42 years old. A man. Hopefully established. Future TEA will be seven years olds than I am today while writing this and while he will miss his dad, he won't need me any more. That is the way it should be.

We play a role in our childrens' lives and do the best we can, and then we should leave, allowing them to find their full roles, and fulfill their great expectations.

If TEA breeds around the same time I did, my grandchildren will be old enough to have memories of me, but they will also have reached the point where Grandpa is no longer their favorite person on the planet, and I can move along from that point as well with my head held high. The old should make way for the new.

Happy birthday to me, and I look forward to the next thirty five years.