I'll Know when I'm Old

In my younger days, one of my sayings was, “I’ll know I am old when K-Tel puts out a compilation record of 80’s songs. For those of you too young to know what a K-Tel record is, this was a company that released greatest hit songs for a specific decade. It was usually the decade following the one with the songs on it. So you can probably understand that Ultimate 80’s was released sometime in the early 90’s. I was only in my late 20’s by that time.” Certainly not old. Yet. I didn’t really update my “I will know when I’m old…” saying after that. However, there are some significant events that take place to put you in an upper generational category, whether you like it or not. For instance, your high school car is now eligible for historical plates. Recently, Tom and I wandered in a really cute antique shop in Indian River called Antiques Roadhouse. As we wandered in the door, we saw the usual antique store items from the 30’s and 40’s. Old furniture, housewares, cookware. As we were wandering about, something caught my eye. It was a display of old metal lunchboxes. “Oh wow! I said! I had one of these!” And then I looked down and saw a Barbie doll accessory case. I had once owned one exactly like it. A little further into the shop was an original Atari game, all set up on a TV that looked a lot like the one we had in our living room growing up. There was one thing, after another, after another that stirred up childhood memories. When did those memories cross over from garage sale finds to antique store treasures? Are they antiques? Am I antique, or should I say, “old?” One thing I can say for certain is that I definitely do not feel old or antique by any stretch of the imagination. Even so, the evidence is there. The camper I camped in as a child is now “vintage” and highly sought after. The banana seat bicycle I rode is collectable. The high waisted jeans I wore are in style again. As they say, “Everything old is new again.” Yes, I have creaks and crackles and wrinkles and grey hairs taking over my head. But I don’t make, “I’ll know when I’m old…” statements anymore. That ship has sailed. Fortunately, there is some good in being able to say “I had a Addams Family metal lunchbox just like that!” and “I carried my Barbies around in this same case!” I enjoy those memories because for me, they are happy.