BoomerGirl Diary

Chrystin, 30!!!: A certain someone (me) has a certain big birthday (30th) today.

Remember when you were little and you thought 30 was super-old? Well, it’s not old but it’s also not what I pictured at all.

When I was little, I thought at 30 you were married, with children and a house, established in your career and you had it all together. I am not married, and I’m ok with it. I don’t have kids, and boy, oh, boy, am I ever ok with that. My career is somewhat established but it’s something I constantly work on, it’s by no means carved out perfectly, and I’m ok with it. And, sorry to break the news, but I don’t have it all together, and guess what … I’m ok with that too.

I have become a little more introspective than usual in the past few months with this big day approaching. I wonder if the next 10 years will fly by as fast as the last 10. It seems like just yesterday that I was in college — and enjoying all those lovely things being away at college offers. Heck, it seems like just yesterday that I was in grade school. I can remember some instances so vividly that it seems impossible that 20 years have passed.

I may not be what I thought I would be at 30 when I was 10 but life is pretty good. I am healthy. I have a great network of loved ones to support my decisions. And, in 30 more years, I will probably be having the introspective moments I am now.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Lois: Today, my daughter Chrystin is 30 years old. Years back, someone young, no doubt, coined that as the "Over the Hill" birthday. I remember the thirties as a time to sit up on top of the hill and check out what was revolving around me. With family and career, I was B-U-S-Y !!

I understand Chrystin’s conceptions of what she thought 30 was supposed to be. When I turned 30, she was 4 1/2 and Laura had just been born. However, according to my expectations of what 30 would be, I was behind. By my generations’ standards, I was not a young mom, and although I wasn’t aware at the time, I was going to be the "old mom." But no age is the way you think it is going to be. Time has its own way of fooling your expectations.

In honor of Chrystin’s birthday, let me share a wonderful memory of 30. In the summer of 1982, Chrystin, just 5, her aunt, her dad, and I took a road trip to DisneyWorld in Orlando, Florida. Fortunately, our kids have what we jokingly refer to as car-butts and I remember her sleeping most of the drive. Five year olds either love the characters entertaining around the park or not so much. Chrystin was the later. Always an expressive little face and voice, her attitude is clear in a photo we have with Chip and Dale, which 25 years later she can twist into a funnier story. Even then she was a night owl, and we would leave aunt and dad back at the hotel and go back to the park at night and like a child that wants to hear the same story over and over, watch the Electric Light Parade, twice, and the fireworks, and ride "It’s a Small World" over and over again. As it would get later, the ride attendant would just let us stay on and ride through again. She would examine the international animated dolls and their costumes and we would sing, even some of the verses in the foreign languages after so many times around.

That’s how I remember 30. Going in circles, children on all sides, and although much the same day in and out, filled with love and laughter, and always an adventure.

Enjoy 30, Chrystin. You are right, 10 years will fly, then 10 more, and on, and none will be what you anticipate. Time just happens, ready or not. But I will let you in on one observation: At the top of that hill is a plateau that leads to some crazy maze that sends you all over the place as it descends in long slow steps .

May you treasure your journey as you wander through. Happy Birthday, Missy!

Laura, 25: As a kid, the cake, ice cream and presents were great -- but birthdays were really about getting to do new things, because now, you’re a year older. When you’re young, your parents decide the privileges you get at each age. When you can sleep over a friends house, when you can stay home alone, when you can baby-sit your sisters. In our house, you could get your ears pierced at ten!

As you hit the teen years, society starts to set your milestones. At 16, you can drive. At 18, you can vote. At 21, you can drink. But at 22, 23, 24, 25, now what?! I guess this is where we’re supposed to set our own milestones.

At 18, I figured I would “allow” myself to get married once I turned 25. Then, I snuck the wedding in two months early!

At 21, I hoped to have a career solidified by 25. Now, I find myself questioning my long-held career ambitions more than ever.

In my head, 30 still means having a career, house and family. It means being “grown-up.” And maybe Chrystin doesn’t have all those things in a conventional way, but she’s got a really great, really fun life, with opportunities everywhere she looks. Besides, Chrystin’s just not conventional. She never has been — and we’re all OK with that!

Jackie, 18: Sometimes I can feel so old, but when I hear about Chrystin turning 30, I think about how young she still is and how 18 is still so young.

To me, my sister is ageless. Growing up together and looking to her for advice just leads me to believe she is a good role model with a lot of experiences to share. She’s still the girl I am growing up with, beautiful and ageless.

Happy Birthday!