Twenty One Again

Time always moves forward. This is no more apparent than by the annual reminder of a birthday. This past Saturday I had the opportunity to take part in a friend's twenty-first birthday celebration, and it was definitely a reminder of great times in my own past.

Of all the milestone birthdays that a young adult grows through - sweet sixteen for driving privileges, adult rights at eighteen - twenty-one is probably the most anticipated. Yet for all the excitement over this age, my own twenty-first was quiet and subdued. On October 3rd, 2005 I worked at Meijer until 11pm and did nothing at midnight; the following day I ordered a Sprite for my dinner drink - alcohol was not on my mind. This surprised neither my family nor friends since I had no prior interests in drinking.

This past Saturday, by contrast, was a birthday celebration as I would have wanted mine in retrospect: spent with close friends in comfortable places. The night started quietly in BG at my friend's house before moving to dinner at Ralphie's in Perrysburg for a fairly casual chicken-and-beer meal. I enjoyed a huge serving of "Chipotle BBQ Bacon Cheddar Chunks" - the Ralphie's equivalent of my Jed's favorite Bacon Doublecheese Balls. I did not drink with everyone else, as I opted to be a designated driver for the evening.

I figured the night would be short and sweet: dinner and a few drinks around Bowling Green. Instead the night carried onward at Nate and Wally's, where the birthday girl got a much better introduction into the world of drinking than I ever did: plenty of shots and Sex on the Beach drinks rounded out the night. Late night bars, food, and plenty of drinks? Oh, I miss college so much it hurts. That was another era of my life gone by, but this past weekend was a definite blast-from-the-past reminder of how much fun I had in younger years, and how much fun I deny myself by staying in the same rut week after week.

Time may move forward but I promise that I will move forward with it.

B3 out.