18 Going On 80

Yes, the youngest kid in the Class of 2004 is finally 18 today. Usually, I would celebrate my birthday and enjoy being one year older but then days later someone bypassed me by a whole year in my class. Yet I didn't mind being the baby, in fact, it's kind of fun to tell people your 17 and your in college. Heck, it baffled my Shop n' Save customers that I was in high school.

So now I'm 18. The priviledges? Well, I don't need nag mom for her John Hancock for several meaningless forms anymore, I can get smokes at the gas station even though I despise the habit, and I can vote. Once I think about it, being 18 really didn't change anything. I'm still me.

Even though I still look like a 16 year old and I'm still in high school putting on a tennis skirt to go smack a few balls, I'm actually 18. I could give a hoot whether I looked my age or not. When it comes family reunion time, the other gals in my class who were puffers will show up to the class reunion looking like raisin from my Grandfather's house (And if you've ever been there, you know where I am coming from.) It really does seem like yesterday when all I really cared about was what was for dinner, when youth group was, and the next time my friends and I could hang out. Some of those have stayed the same but now I have added future plans, a boyfriend, schedules, and classes to my plate.

But being older doesn't change the fact that I am truly a kid inside with heart. I still love cartoons, Saturday morning breakfasts, church on Sundays, warm winter mornings, hanging out with old pals, being at John's house and just being me. No age can take any of that away. Being 18 only means there is more fun and wonders of life to come.