As of yesterday, I am thirty-seven years old.
"Oh, you're so young!" That was a sixty-something aquaintance speaking. She has children my age.
It's all a matter of perspective, I guess, which is what I told her. I am young -- for senior citizen discounts. For Alzheimers. But I'm old for high school. Much too old for diapers. (Come to think of it, much too young for diapers as well.) To put it in strictly Floridian terms, since I have relatives in that sunny state and it's spring-break season: I'm young for Del Rey Beach and old for Fort Lauderdale.
The truth is, when that sixty-something person waved thirty-seven off as generally young, I was thinking, I'm not young for child-bearing. "Easy for you to say," I now imagine myself shooting back at her, "You're old."
But that seems mean, and I am not, by nature, mean. And even if I was, I'm too old for that kind of thing.
My birthday, by the way, was fun: a day trip with my family and my brother's family for good food and ice skating and some long-overdue time in the art store with my nephew, who recently turned nine. Now that's young.
3 comments:
Just found your blog. This post makes me think of comments I get like, "Oh, come on, women are having babies in their forties these days! You have plenty of time!" Yeah...plenty of time to save up for fertility treatment!
i also recently turned 37- had a lot of drama in the last year or so.. had a baby, my husband left me- now i am starting again. there are challenges in store for all of us. i find inspiration in your example and wish you good luck in all of your aspirations.
I'm 35 and of "advanced maternal age" too. My doc keeps telling me it's not a big deal because I'm healthy, but I definitely understand the anxiety. I miscarried last year and wonder how much of it had to do with age.
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