i’m old
Wednesday May 24th 2006, 10:08 am
Filed under: personal


yesterday i was mentioning that today i turn 43 to a few co-workers. i mentioned that it felt a little weird, as i realized i can’t even say i’m in my “low40s” anymore. toben responded, “oh, sure ya can. 40, 41, 42, and 43 are low 40s; 44, 45 and 46 are mid-40s; and 47 on up are upper-40s; AND there’s one year of wiggle room at the transition year — for instance, if you’re 33 and you want to think of yourself as younger, you can say you’re in your young 30s; but if you want to seem more ‘mature’, you can say you’re in your mid-30s.”

he had the whole system worked out.

so, now i’m not really sure if i’m in my low 40s or my mid-40s. but three things are clear:
1. no one can say “young 40s” with a straight face. “low 40s” maybe, but not “young 40s”.
2. today is my 43rd birthday.
3. i’m old.

i distinctly remember being a little kid and day-dreaming about the then-very-future year 2000, and doing the math to figure out that i’d be 36 at the time. and i thought that just sounded like one-foot-in-the-grave territory. i couldn’t even fathom being 43.

well, there you have it. young 40s or low 40s or mid-40s or old or middle aged or whatever — i don’t feel a day over 30-something!

(and, yes, that is me in the picture, lower right corner, circa roughly 1966 — i’m guessing — about age 3.)


22 Comments so far
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Happy Birthday, Marko! I am celebrating with you this day - the day God introduced you to the world. Thank you for continuing to be His instrument of grace and love to those around you and youth workers everywhere. Enjoy your day…

Comment by Christy 05.24.06 @ 10:22 am

wow, that’s max

Comment by mikey 05.24.06 @ 10:27 am

Happy Birthday my friend!!
Hope you get to spend some quality time with the fam tonight or this weekend.

And I hope the cleanse is still going well…be encouraged to keep it up.

Comment by Andrew Seely 05.24.06 @ 10:33 am

Happy Birthday Marko! Not to burst your bubble, but if you think about it, you are actually now in your 44th year as birthdays celebrate the conclusion of the year (think 1st birthday), not the start. Still, since I turned 40 this year (or 41 if you use the above system), I am more than happy to wish you a grand 43rd birthday and leave it at that.

Comment by carla 05.24.06 @ 11:07 am

simply NOT helpful, carla! :o)

Comment by marko 05.24.06 @ 11:11 am

The quote of the day on my google home page:

“You can only be young once. But you can always be immature.”
- Dave Barry

Happy Birthday!

Comment by paul t 05.24.06 @ 12:24 pm

Happy Birthday, you old fart! ;)

Nowadays you are only as old as you look (NOT feel) and with those skirts you wear…well, it knocks of years from your age.

Seriously though, Happy Birthday. Does this mean you will be having cake??

Comment by jen }i{ 05.24.06 @ 12:42 pm

yes, jen — my cleanse ended yesterday. leoney (our receptionist) brought in birthday cookies for me today!

Comment by marko 05.24.06 @ 1:15 pm

Dang, I’m only three years behind you but I hate to think that my old family portraits look like that! But since 40 is officially the new 20, we’ve got some good years agead of us!

Comment by kj 05.24.06 @ 1:30 pm

Marko - my wife just said “cute kid, what happened?”

Really rough on me, because how do I defend you in that? “Hey hon, I still think he’s cute!” Sorry dude, I’m not going there, not even for you.

Happy Birthday!

Comment by Jeff Moulton 05.24.06 @ 1:39 pm

happy birthday marko!

Comment by bobbie 05.24.06 @ 1:40 pm

You were ADORABLE in a dress!

Comment by Steve 05.24.06 @ 1:48 pm

Happy Birthday, Marko. In all honesty, I thought you were in your early thirties. Seriously.

Comment by Tree 05.24.06 @ 3:00 pm

Many happy returns of the day!
Dana

Comment by Dana Ames 05.24.06 @ 3:44 pm

happy birthday you old bugger

may cubans rise to meet you as they did in my kitchen with the grizzled man all those years ago and then as the spit amde my neighbour throw just last year….i love ya man! x

Comment by paul 05.24.06 @ 5:35 pm

Happy Birthday to my baby brother!! (That means, of course, that I’m very very old!) oh well…
i love you!
love, lor

Comment by lor 05.24.06 @ 5:54 pm

happy b day man! I am looking to hanging this coming year!
seacrestout

Comment by johnny 05.24.06 @ 7:00 pm

Happy Birthday!! Gotta love a day where everyone is nice to you!! :)

Comment by janelle 05.24.06 @ 8:35 pm

hey! you made it another year! yeah rah!
love the photo and congrats on the cleanse!
you’re just getting better, not older….
tell jeannie hey from me!
miss you guys!
enjoy the back yard and the hottub view on this your special day!
blessings for a great year too! lil

Comment by lillylewin 05.24.06 @ 9:54 pm

Hey Mark -
Who cares about age…just remember the ‘inwardly we are being renewed day by day’ part.
Love & blessings to you on your bday!

Lis

Comment by Lisa 05.24.06 @ 11:47 pm

Happy Birthday, Marco!
Absolutely LOVE your blog!

Comment by Thom, Colleen (& Baby Girl Charlotte) 05.24.06 @ 11:53 pm

Happy Birthday! “Selamat Hari Jadi” (Malay)

Comment by Sivin 05.25.06 @ 2:45 am

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