The Right to Reminisce

I believe that one of the advantages of aging is that one is allowed (perhaps even expected) to provide a certain amount of commentary on the aging process and publicly reminisce about days gone by. The older you are, the more that others must tolerate. I happily join in this tradition but since I am but a young lad of twenty-four, I will try to know my place and keep it brief.

• I was invited to the end-of-the-year banquet for the college radio station that used to occupy such a large part of my life. Even though the graduating seniors are only two years younger than me, it just doesn't seem like they're old enough to be graduating yet. I still remember them as the freshman that wandered into the station trying to get involved and now they're leaving it behind to another group of fresh faces. I couldn't help but to be proud of them. They're all grown up now.
• Reminiscing about your childhood seems silly until you reach a certain age and enough time has passed for the memories to mature. Whenever people would reminisce in movies or songs, they would always go too far back, before my time. Last week I was listening to Soul Position, which has three tracks dedicated to reminiscing about things that were so important growing up (cartoons, candy, clothes). For the first time, I could identify with most of what was being remembered so fondly and I felt my place within a generation that grew up with He-Man, Bubblicious and Ewings. I guess it's our turn to reminisce now.
• I never understood why so many people have back problems until Veronika came along. I quickly realized that it is impossible to rock a baby to sleep without leaning back to give her something to rest her head on, therein putting your lower back in a bad position. Multiply the length of an average rocking session by a few times a week by fifty or so weeks by number of children and you're talking about some serious back strain. Between this, the constraint of a desk job and my bad posture, I'll be hobbling around, holding my lower back like an old man in no time. It is totally worth it though.