Me and my mother talk about this often. When I talk to her or I am around her I just feel like my mother’s child vs. being my mother’s daughter. Does that make sense? No? Good, because it doesn’t make sense to me either.  Yes, there are times when she talks to me like I’m not a woman in my 30’s. (I’ve learned to ignore it because I’ve come to the realization that that is something that will never be completely turned off) But when I talk to her about certain things and she drops those pearls of wisdom, I immediately feel like the child that sometimes needs reassurance from her mama.  When she comes over sometimes and she cooks, I love it not just because the food is good and I’m not the one cooking it, but because it reminds me of being a child and being excited when she would tell me she was making my favorite dish for dinner.  I often think about how much I wanted freedom and wanted to be on my own and in reality it wasn’t that long ago.  I think about my closest friends and how we met at the tender ages of 13 and 14 and about how we are now in our mid 30’s, but it doesn’t seem that long ago that we were just kids.  I look at my little cousins who I can remember just being born who are now in their late teens and early 20’s. Where did the time go? Time has a way of sneaking up on you and one day you wake up and realize, my God I’ going to be 35 this year.  I remember being so peeved when I was in my 20’s and people always said I looked like a kid. Now when I tell people my age and I see the look of disbelief it actually makes me feel good. I was never one of those people who said, “By age 30, I want to have this, and by age 35 I want to have that.” But I can understand why people have a mid life crisis.  All these questions start popping up at once, “What have I done with my life? What do I still want to do with my life? Am I ever going to get married and have kids? I’m not even dating anybody. If I move to another state what does that mean for my mom? What if something happens to her and am I prepared to handle things?” It irks me when people say “I hate getting old.” Don’t ever say that. I think about family members who never made it to 40, people who never made it to 25, and babies who never saw their 1st birthday. That’s why I am so sad when I hear about children and teenagers taking their lives. Please understand that it’s sad when anyone does it but these kids are so young.  I wish I could tell them to hold on, that there’s so much more.  Each day that we grow older (and wiser) is truly a gift but it can also be scary.  I always tell people that I’m a child at heart but 80 in soul years. I think as long as I never lose that, I’ll never really be old.  You know what just made me feel ancient though? Looking at “Fuller House”  I used to live for “TGIF” Fridays. (not the restaurant) Uncle Jesse is still cute though 😉