I went to a bridal shower for one of my sorority sisters this past week-end. The bride-to-be is one of the youngest of my sorority sisters from my pledge class. We used to joke her that she was the baby, that we were bringing her up, bringing her along.
At her shower the other day, I noticed that she, her sister, and her bridesmaids are still in their twenties (late twenties, but twenties nonetheless). Other guests included her mother, her aunts, her grandmother and other family and friends that were older than me. Two other of my sorority sisters, one the same age as me, the other slightly younger, were also in attendance. Talk turned to weddings, parties and receptions. One remarked that if she were to do it again, she would love to have another big wedding. The other said that if it were her, she’d keep it small and quiet.
“Why have another big wedding?” I ventured. “Let’s just have a big blow out party just because. Or let’s do it for the next big birthday. What’s that going to be anyway?”
*Pause*
“Thirty-five,” we said in unison.
Wow.
I don’t know if my other two sorority sisters felt what I did just then. It was this odd sense of being in an age limbo. Not quite as young as the bride to be and her attendants, but not quite as mature as the mother of the bride and her guests. Maybe I’m over-thinking, building up that mountain out of nothing.
I never have given much thought to how old I am. I don’t feel old. I don’t look old (at least not according to the bartender at McCormick and Schmick’s). And yet, discovering that my next big birthday number is 35 was jarring.
1. Like I said, I’ve never given much thought to how old I am
2. Now that I share my birthday with Coever, truly, it’s her birthday, not mine.
3. 30 for me fell on the first day of school for the girls and my priorities were elsewhere.
When I turned 25, I had a big blowout at our house. We hired a DJ, had it catered, had all manner of friends and family. Truth be told, I liked the planning and the execution of the whole thing. I love getting together with family and friends; I wish we did it more often and on such a large scale. I’d do it again for 35, but I think it would be more poignant for me because I, in fact, would be turning 35.
