On the Eve...

...Tonight is my last night before I become a "legal adult." The number 21 is:

• Featured in many movie titles since the 40's, such as "21" (name of four different films), "21 Grams," "Over 21," "21 Days," "Bat 21," "21 Jump Street," etc.
  
• Part of company titles, like Pier 21, Cinema 21, Century 21, 21st Century ____, 21 Club, and so on.
  
• As a chromosome, it is most notorious for Down Syndrome, and other genetic diseases.
• 21 AD was full of revolt for the Romans all over the empire.
• 21 is the sum of the first six integers (1+2+3+4+5+6=21).
• There are 21 dimensions/aspects of spacetime according to unified string theory.
• The 21st Amendment ended Prohibition in the United States.
• Known also in the United States as the age in which can legally get intoxicated or become a prostitute.
  

One could find countless other things that would add up to 21, but it is the matter of becoming an adult that weighs on the mind.

The funny yet sad thing about this personal new year's eve is that I get the feeling that it really won't be all that special. Certainly not in the grand scheme of things. Heck, I won't be able to even rent a car until 25 -- Brant will receive that honor instead this year.

There are certain years that are talked up a great deal after birth, being 5, 8, 16, 18, 21, 25, 40, 50, 64, 75, and if you live past that, every year becomes special in a different way. I had a great-great aunt, whom I loved dearly, who lived to be 103, thanks to her daily love of canned tuna/sardines. I always thought that her long life was pretty cool as a child.

We all love birthdays, especially when we are the ones being loved and celebrated.

So why do birthdays become increasingly insignificant as we grow older? We never should be ashamed about our years of garnered wisdom from experience, our triumphs, our important memories. Perhaps thanks to too many funerals throughout my childhood, every birthday has become semi-sacred to me. It's the concept that you had the freedom of a year to learn, grow, explore, be challenged, and what you chose to do with it. A birthday is like a finishing and starting line of a race in which "Congratulations!" is mixed with "Get going!"

Birthdays come in a great range of celebrations from the most humble to the truly extravagant. Either way, the ONLY thing that matters is whether you feel cherished and special by those you care about for being you and alive. The alternative is unacceptable.

It will be interesting to see what tomorrow brings. At 9 am, Brant and I will be off to see the Draper Temple Open House, just like I've been wanting. After that who knows what the first day of being 21 will be like?

It's a brand new year of adventure to find out.