Turning 24 was a dream come true! My whole life I was waiting to turn 24, because I would be 24 on the 24th of June! How cool would that be? I always envisioned something magical happening that night. Turning 24 meant turning into a woman. Growing up. Having it all figured out. Living in New York City. Being an actress. Having a boyfriend. Wearing mascara. Wearing pencil skirts. After all, my mother had me by that age, and so, I, too, would have everything I needed at 24.
And now, 24 has come and gone. What now?! There's nothing exciting about turning 25 because nothing can top "24 on 24." And, on top of it all, everyone thought I was crazy last year for saying it was my Golden Birthday - that once in a lifetime birthday when your age matches your date. Everyone looked at me as if I said "When I turn 24 I'll be able to fly!" and they all said "You're making that up!" And for awhile, I was convinced maybe I had made it up! My dreams got in the way of my reality, and I had imagined the existence of an expression! And now, what do you know, everyone is either 1) wishing me a Happy Golden Birthday, or 2) saying "Aww, too bad you missed your Golden Birthday." I didn't miss it!! You did!! Where were you well-wishers when I WAS celebrating my Golden Birthday? Why couldn't you have been happy with me then? People are saying "Golden Birthday" left and right this year - as if I talked about it so much last year that the idea spread like wild fire and finally caught on. My use of the expression all of last year triggered its tipping point. I put this golden idea into everyone's heads and now they're forgetting who gave them the idea!
You know what, since you all missed out on the cool factor of last year's birthday meaning, I'm just going to have a second Golden Birthday. Can I do that? I'm going to. 25 is going to be just as awesome as 24. Since y'all know what a Golden Birthday is now, you can all owe me that "Happy Golden Birthday" you missed last year. And sidenote, I did consult Google, and a Golden Birthday is in fact everything awesome I claim it to be.
Even though I had waited my whole life to turn 24, I can't now have nothing to look forward to. What sort of ingenue would I be if I lost all my hopes and dreams now? Maybe turning 24 and my Golden Birthday was just the start of the next wonderful chapter of my life.
And so now begins the story of Turning 25...
