17 was a good year. I had a motorcycle, didn't have to buy groceries, and I spent the summer mowing lawns, riding my motorcycle, and hanging out with my buddies. 17 was good.
Through the magic of Facebook (that Zuckerberg, didn't he look nice in a suit in front of Congress?) I have been reading and seeing my high school classmates (Class of '77, do the math) celebrate their birthdays as we approach or hit the 6-0 mark. 41 years ago we marched to Pomp and Circumstance, heard some speeches about changing the world, or it's all in front of us, or some other semi rhetorical pearls.
Now please leave our school, get jobs, pay taxes, have a life. And try not to get caught.
Save a few experiences with the Dixon Police Department and the California Highway Patrol, I did not get caught. Looking back, I must have had some major luck to get this far. And too many of our classmates have not made it this far. That leaves the rest of us to deal with grief and maybe even some survivor's guilt.
It's pretty sobering to think that I am now older than most of my high school teachers were when I sat in their classes. And didn't they seem old? Yikes. I was born right before Camelot and spent grade school and junior high years in the Vietnam era. We came of age in the 70's. Remember Watergate, the fall of Saigon (on my 16th birthday), Burt Reynolds movies (who didn't want a Black Trans Am?) and, sadly, disco. I told my cowboy buddies the only reason I went to see Saturday Night Fever was because of the girl I was dating then. 40 years later I say 'I saw that classic when it came out', as if I had some 18 year old insight into pop culture and it's last effects on the American psyche.
Moving on to the 80's it was marriage, having a kid, hitting 30, losing my dad, and drifting.
The 90's saw another kid, a major upheaval in location (Why did you leave Marin County and wind up in St Paul? Well, this is where the gas money ran out), earning a degree, and the start of my first real career. I've had jobs and I've had careers. It might be said that a career is better than a job. Well, that's bullshit. I've had great jobs, lousy jobs, and career highs and lows. The money spends the same. The kids didn't care if I had a job or career. They just wanted some time with dad. (ok, I'm assuming they did. I think they did, except of course from ages 15 - 19, when parents ceased to exist. A temporary condition.)
The turn of the century brought on my second career right before 9/11, kids growing up, and the loss of a real good friend. Into the 'teens' it was another degree, losing my mom and the kids getting all growed up and leaving the house.
Boys, please get jobs, pay taxes, have a good life. And try not to get caught.
The horizon that masked retirement for so long is now in sight. And, looking damned more inviting than ever. Getting up at 5 to shag my ass into work and tolerate bureaucracy and millennials is not fun anymore. And, who knows, maybe some grandchildren at some point. (no, none on the way that I know of) I was in strict denial about becoming a grandpa for a long time, but now it's beginning to look interesting. Kind of like renting a cool car, then dropping it off before you have to do maintenance. Yeah I can see myself taking a grandkid to a ballgame, movies, motorcycle rides.
A couple years ago, a small group of us from work took an afternoon off and went for a motorcycle ride. A few weeks later, one the guys caught me at work and said '..you ride 20 years younger than you are"
errr, well, ok, thanks. I guess. But inside I was giving myself a major fist bump. There's a 17 year old still inside, and he comes out every once in awhile. Use the Force, Luke, let go.
yeah, it's just a number. It's getting bigger every year. And before you say it, yes it beats the alternative.
And now, to bring this to a merciful close, a couple song quotes.
"Cowboy in the Jungle" by Jimmy Buffett
Spinning around in circles
Living it day to day
And still twenty four hours, maybe sixty good years
It's still not that long a stay.
"Much too Young to Feel this Damned Old" by Garth Brooks
And the white line's getting longer and the saddle's getting cold
I'm much too young to feel this damn old
All my cards are on the table with no ace left in the hole
I'm much too young to feel this damn old
I'm much too young to feel this damn old
All my cards are on the table with no ace left in the hole
I'm much too young to feel this damn old
Lord, I'm much too young to feel this damn old
