A writer looks at 30

This, my friends, has been the final summer of my life. Well, perhaps I am being a bit over dramatic; it is, in fact, the final summer of my life as a “twentysomething.”

Summer 2011 will find me basking in the glow of the summer sun at the ripe old age of…..30. Wow. Why am I not prepared? Why am I feeling so weird about this? I have had 29 years to grow accustomed to the idea that I will, someday, turn 30 and yet, here I sit, memories of high school, college, early twenties and all that still fresh within my mind. Wasn’t it just a week or two ago that I bought my first legal brew? Hmmm. I could have sworn it was……

People are freaking me out. They say that 30 is the age that maturity has to happen, that life gets real. What in the world has life been up until now? I look back on all of my (almost) 30 years and I find it hard to believe that some of that living didn’t take a certain level of maturity. And I find it extremely hard to believe that all of that living wasn’t real!

After spending a few months being scared out of my mind by the media, friends and various other lovelies, I have chosen to turn 30 in the only way that I know how: Completely happy and thankful for the fact that I have made it this far!

In that vein, I declared this summer as one of celebration in preparation for this wondrous event. True, I have dubbed it my “Last Summer as a Twentysomething,” but that name does not fully convey the reality of my intent. Yes, I am celebrating the passing of a time that I never fathomed would end. But, I am also celebrating a beginning. I have never lived a summer day as a “thirtysomething.” This will be completely new. If there is anything that you should know about me it is that I thrive on the completely new!

This summer 2010 has been amazing, one of the best of my life. Every week has brought with it a new adventure. The summer itself was anchored by life changing trips. The first to Chicago at the beginning of summer, the last to the Florida Keys at the end of summer. These two trips solidified within me many things. These trips were the perfect hello and goodbye to my final summer as a “twentysomething.”
In between those trips, life seethed about me. I felt its force in every move that I made, every word that I spoke and every road that I travelled down. This “final” summer was a resounding success!

This summer also brought me to my realization of 30.

In a few months, I begin life anew. I have an amazing relationship, a blossoming career, a perfect town to call home full of amazing people and an outlook on life that remains unchanged. I have always grabbed a hold of life and lived every second, I have always loved my existence. This fire for living that dwells inside of my being is only getting hotter. I will enter my thirties slightly changed, but for the better. I will turn 30 without fear and eager to explore the me that I will soon become.

And I will cherish every minute of it. For I know that all too soon I will be thinking “hey, didn’t I just write that column about turning 30? How am I now writing one about turning 50?” Time flies, it’s true.

To me, 30 is sexy, it is dignified, it is “young professional with a beautiful family.” Where 20 held my hopes and dreams as a young, single, traveler, 30 holds my hopes and dreams of a still young, family minded traveler. I know that my 40th birthday will find me happier than I am now, and my 50th will beat my 40th.

I am eager to meet those future “me’s.” But not so eager that I will waste my day today.

30 is fancier beer and trendy wine. I believe that I will toast to that right now. Join me? To us! And all we’ve been and yet to be!