26 June 2007

REPOST 9/30/2006 Just how old are you?

Just how old are you? I still have to laugh every time someone asks me that. Am I really that much of a baby face that people have problems believing I'm an adult?

People tend to fall into two categories, it seems.

Some see a picture of me or see me strolling into work with my hair pulled into a ponytail behind my head and THINK I am much younger than I am. One met me at EPICon last year and later commented that she couldn't believe I'd played Mommy to a houseful of Navy Nukes, because I couldn't POSSIBLY be Mommy to anyone older than 5.

To tell the truth, the YOUNGEST of my children is 6. The oldest is twice that, and I waited 7 years to have that first one. I've been with my husband for 20 1/2 years now...and I wasn't much of jailbait when I met him.

The other camp know me only from online and come in thinking I'm much older than I am. In fact, Myra Nour couldn't get over the fact that I'm younger than she is at RT this past year. Seeing me in action online, she'd assumed that I was older than she was. Then she met me.

That's not a new thing for me. I've had people buy me drinks when I was 15, because I acted so adult that they forgot I wasn't 21. I guess, when you have to be fairly self-sufficient at age 8, you grow up and get responsible pretty fast. That's how a 37-year-old ends up president of a worldwide non-profit that consists largely of people older than she is, I suppose.

But, honestly, I have to wonder... Is the chronological age of a person really of such importance? I've seen a lot in my (tomorrow) 38 years. In the end, isn't the life experience and work ethic of a person more important than the DOB listed on your drivers' license? Just a ponderance tonight...

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