This past Wednesday, I celebrated turning 42. I had a good day that was made even better thanks to family and friends.
I self-reflect a lot, but even more so around my birthday. However, this year’s self-reflection was jump-started physically instead of mentally.
Picture it:
I’m doing what I need to do as a parent and am holding it down as a representative of my family for our mandatory concession stand shift as a band family. Do I want to do it? No. Do I complain about it to everyone who will listen? Absolutely!
The people there are super nice.there are a few high schoolers there getting their community service hours. The adults give me a run-down of how everything works, and we get right to it. After prepping and wrapping burgers, they tell me I’ll be one of the runners. Aight bet. I used to work in the cafeteria in college. I’ve got this.
Things went incredibly well for a five or so hour shift. Things only got tragically slow a couple of times, but it wasn’t a big deal. I went home feeling like a champion.
But in the middle of the night, when I got up to use the bathroom, it was like I was having a partial out of body experience. I wanted to yell out “Whose legs are these, and what’s wrong with my knees?” I’ve never had knee pain before.
I hobbled around for a day or two before shaking back fully. So, yeah. Knee pain. That was my welcome to 42. It was also a reminder that if I don’t do my part to take care of my body, parts of my body will try to take me out!
So, Friends, my question to you is this: When did you first realize you were getting old?
Leave a comment here or on one of my social media channels: Facebook, Instagram, X, BlueSky, or LinkedIn.
Let’s see where the conversation takes us. Until next Sunday…
-Ash