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TITLE: I'm Finally 30
By Karin Beery
06/30/08
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I wrote this to write something. Not sure if I can use it anyplace, but it was fun to put together!
I'm finally thirty. Shrug. My 21 year-old friend envies me; she can't wait to be thirty. My sister-in-law pities me; she doesn't ever want to be thirty. Honestly, I don't care. I feel the same, look the same, even act the same as I did last year. So what's supposed to happen?
Will people start calling me ma'am? Too late...that happened when I was 25 and started working around teenagers.
Will my hair go gray? Too late again. That trend began at the tender age of 24...thanks mom.
Did my metabolism suddenly slow down? I don't know. Do I look fat to you?
I mean, really, what's different? What's the big deal?
Since I can't figure it out, I've decided to look back at 1978 for some small revelation. Here's what I discovered:

-Normal Rockwell died.
-Annie Hall won the Academy Award for Best Picture.
-Sony introduced the first Walkman.
-The Yankees won the World Series (I know, big deal. Happens all the time).
-Dallas won the Super Bowl.
-In the Bakke case before the Supreme Court, quota systems were barred in college admissions, but they affirmed the constitutionality of programs giving advantages to minorities. (Fine...I copied that one word for word).
-Pope Paul VI and Pope John Paul both died; Pope John Paul II was appointed.
-The US Senate approved Panama Canal neutrality and they agreed to give control of the canal back to Panama in 2000.
-My husband was born.

Wow! Until today the only thing I knew about my birth year was that Star Wars IV: A New Hope was released...and I just found out it was actually released in 1977! Everything I knew about my past has been a lie! (Sorry, moment of melodrama).
Anyway, my point is this: which is more important, that I turned 30 in 2008, or the Presidential Election? Can you list all of the primary candidates? What's happening in China? Is there really an energy crisis? Have I ever written an article with so many question marks? What's really important? I was pretty embarrassed to realize how little I know about the year in which I was born.
Don't get me wrong, I like birthdays. Actually, in my family we have birthweeks. They're a time to celebrate that each of us is alive! I like to celebrate that my husband was born in 1978...that's a big deal for me. I WANT to celebrate him, but I choose to focus on his life, not his age. I don't care how old he is, but I do care that he's here, living and breathing and taking out the garbage. That's worthy of commemoration (his life, not the garbage). But can we really celebrate his life if we don't know what's happened during it?
So I'm 30 years-old now. Thirty years of history, some of which may not affect me directly, but it's part of my life. And I'm afraid that I've got a lot of catching up to do. (Oh, to those of you eagerly anticipating the big 3-0, I hope you're not too disappointed. And if you're dreading it? It's inevitable. Either way, there'll be a lot to learn!).
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