Milestone

In early June 1978, when I was 13, I was bored one day so I did what most kids do: I began figuring out my age in days. This was before spreadsheets so it was somewhat tedious but I was fascinated. I was almost 4,800 days old. I proceeded to cipher the ages of each of my family to see if any of them were close to a “days” milestone. They were not, but my little sister was a just a few months away from 2,000. But then I noticed something: the combined age of the eight kids would eclipse parents; age in just two days. What fortunate timing of my ciphering; we almost reached that milestone unawares. That scared me a little. What else were we missing? I am weird, I know. I won’t argue with you.

I also realized that within a year, I would reach the magical day 5,000. During my Creative Writing class I figured that the landmark day would occur on January 3, 1979. I circled it on my calendar. It was not really creative or writing but it was quirky. I probably should have given more attention to my classwork. I think I got a C. The blessed day came and went with little fanfare. No candles, no presents, but I knew it was a special day.

With spreadsheet technology it was become a lot easier to figure age in days. I still think it is fun. I look for milestones, relationships, etc. I’m like the dude on the beach with a metal detector searching for worthless trinkets. One of my coolest finds ever was realizing that the age difference between my oldest two children is identical to the age difference between my oldest sister and me. Yes, to the day. 891 days.

In fact, today my sister is 16,891 days old. You know what that means, right? Yes, today is a special day for me. I am 16,000 days old today! I know, not as cool as 5,000. Anyone born on June 8, 1995 out there? I guess Nancy Baker turned 25 then – bet she doesn’t realize that today she is 25 and 5,000 days old. What about September 29, 1981? It is the big 10K for you today.