Today is my grandfather’s 80th birthday but the family went out to dinner and celebrated on Saturday night. We went to a snazzy little steakhouse called The Olde Jaol in Wooster, Ohio. Typically my grandparents like to asked about K’s business and my career and my brother’s life, but my mom wanted to keep the conversation on my grandpa and his experiences. She decided we would all wear a t-shirt (under our sweater/button-up/whatever) that represented a time in her dad’s life and, as we revealed them, the topics would shift. It sounded a little weird, but it worked out well!

We heard about his childhood in the family cheese house and his time at OSU and his adventures in the air force. It was the first time I’d heard stories from him about Vietnam. My grandpa also flew Air Force One and got to fly vice presidents, senators, and other officials. After that he went on to fly commercial jets. He had a lot of stories and my mom brought a tape recorder to capture them all.

As this was going on I thought to myself how easily 80 years can be summed up! My grandpa was born in 1935. I mean, everything was in black and white! When I’m 80 it will be 2070. That’s so crazy. I wonder what will happen between now and 2070. So much has happened in the last 24 years of my existence- it’s such a weird thing to think about.

I hope that when I’m 80 I will be celebrating with K and our family. That night my grandma helped tell some of the stories- their life together has been so unique and adventurous! My uncle (who lives in St. Louis) also flew in for the evening and my brother and his girlfriend drove home from college. Overall, it was a really nice night.

Last night my friend Erica and I were talking about 2070. Her daughter will be 55. (Right now she’s a two week old baby… I was cuddling her while we were talking about this.) It’s insane how quickly time can pass and how short we’re here to enjoy it! I mean, 80 years is a LONG time in my eyes, but really it’s not. Totally freaks me out.

Assuming I make it that long, I have a whole list of things to accomplish and experience!

This was kind of a downer so here’s a random puppy that played in the mud:

Sometimes I think about how old I’ll be when my youngest cousin graduates high school (34-ish) or gets married (40?!?). Do you ever contemplate the phenomenon of age?

-Louise