For The Old People

A great point at Cross-Currents:

Youth, it must be granted, has its particular charm: the sense of boundless potential. “The charm and insolence of youth is that it is everything in potentiality and nothing in actuality,” wrote the Spanish philosopher Ortega y Gasset. It is characteristic of young people to hesitate in the face of the seemingly infinite possibilities before them; they know that walking through any door will foreclose others and signal the end of their infinite potential.

Far more satisfying than preserving that sense of infinite possibility, however, is having made some choices and walked through one of those beckoning doors. Having actually done something, built a home with a life partner, and raised children is ultimately a lot more satisfying than fantasizing about whom one will marry or what one will do when he grows up.

This post has been dedicated to all of the old SerandEz brothers- and sisters-in-law who, by next fall, will have all crossed that grand threshold of 30. You are now officially old, but it's okay: In our eyes, you've always been old. A special mazel tov to SIL, who says she is no longer counting after tomorrow, and Verv & DefenseMan, who are now over 60 together. As a note to the latter, you will be older combined than Dad by sometime next year. SIL & OD - you already are. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Now THAT'S old.