Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Matt's Not That Old, Really

As many of our readers know, Matt is turning 30 this year. What many of you may not know, is that he may not actually make it that far. Not normally one for personal drama, I am beginning to suspect Matt may turn 29 for the rest of his life. And it is so much more than not owning up to how long ago Sept 14, 1979 was- this goes much deeper. It started out with some expected whimpering about not being ready to be old, but has become steeped itself in pity long enough to become a whole new beast. To deal with the emotional cavern that this birthday brings, he splits his time on both sides by acting in a binary fashion between 40 ("we ought to save this money for a down payment on a house") and 20 ("I am gonna celebrate with a Month of Beer Challenge"). Well, trinary- there is also complete denial.

My current challenge, is to plan an appropriate celebration for a guy who is wavering between not having a birthday, having a birthday where he is incredibly old, and one where he will never grow up. Imagine a sort of Mad Hatter's Party for Methuselah in Neverland theme- and if you can, be explicit in details, I am at a loss. In recent years, we have had several friends turn 30, generally there was cake, good friends and an absence of dentures, AARP members or Reader's Digest toasts. I would have thought that seeing this happen gracefully on so many occasions would help Matt transition, but I underestimated how tense he is about this whole birthday thing. It is surprising, really. Matt at his core hasn't changed since I met him, and I have a hard time imagining him being anyone but the laid back, logical, quiet fun loving geek I know today. Maybe he knows something I don't.

For those who are interested, I am assembling a birthday list I can send your way. If it isn't in your inbox tonight, and you want it, just say so.

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