Age

Last Saturday, I attended the first 50th birtday party of my circle of friends. Fifty! About 20 years ago, fifty seemed positively ancient to me and while I did not really think about people that age much, it was definitely an age you could only ever imagine your parents or grandparents to belong to and not yourself and your peers. Now that I am not that far away from this number myself, it is neither a scary, nor really associated with "old" anymore. Also, the older I become, the more diverse my circle of friend becomes and the more I realise how immature and self-righteous it is to bitch about people who are in an age-gap relationship or hang out with people way older or younger than themselves. I have learnt that age really just is a number and due to personal circumstances (marital status, sexual orientation, job...you name it) you might feel more affinity to people younger or older than you. Particularly when you fall in love with someone way off the social norm you will immediately be judged and speculations will be made. Older man with young woman? She has a father complex and a gold digger. Vice versa? Desperate woman clearly in denial about her mortality wants a toyboy. He just wants to exploit her and will leave her alone for a hot young chick at the next opportunity that presents itself. We have so many labels and preconceptions and while they might look their age or not that much younger (even though I personally think your attitude towards life is also reflected in a certain youthful look) a lot of 50- or 60-year-olds feel and act a lot younger than some people half their age. Provided I'll enjoy it in good health, I am definitely not afraid of my half-century birthday and have already told my friends to save the date. It's a Saturday, yay!