23: An insignificant birthday

By Catherine Amos

Published: July 23, 2008

Twenty-three. What milestone comes with turning 23?

There are the obvious thrills of legality that accompany the 18th and 21st birthdays, but 23? Big freakin’ whoop.

At least last year I reveled in my “golden birthday,” meaning I turned the same age as the date of my birth, i.e. turning 22 on the 22nd. I swear, I did not make it up as a reason to have an exciting birthday after 21; it is a real thing for those who wish to commemorate it.

Unless of course, that age has already passed you by, in which case I apologize you were not informed sooner of this great cause for celebration.

As my coworker likes to say whenever someone celebrates a birthday, “It all goes downhill after 18.”

I sure hope not, because there are a lot of years left after 18 — depending on how long I’m around.

Despite how fantastic the past 23 years have been, I can’t imagine this is as good as it gets.

Every day my life evolves, and I know I have so much to accomplish, so much to experience. I want to move back to Spain, have a family, write a book. I couldn’t possibly write a book yet; I haven’t lived enough.

Thinking about the world’s achievements in the last 23 years reminds me what we could accomplish in the next 23. According to the History Channel’s Web site, here are the significant events that have occurred on July 22 since my birth:

July 22, 1985: A monumental day in history — I was born in Charlotte, N.C. Somehow the History Channel forgot that one. I’ll notify them.

1986: In Britain, MPs voted to abolish corporal punishment in state schools.

1997: Princess Diana, Sting and Elton John were among 3,000 people at a Mass in Milan in memory of murdered Italian fashion designer Gianni Versace.

OK, so maybe not much has happened on July 22 since 1985. I guess you can’t really top me being born. Thanks, Mom and Dad.

This was the first year I’ve been apart from my family on my birthday, but they didn’t let that stop them. My brother woke me up at 6:59 Tuesday morning with a birthday phone call, which I silenced. I appreciated the well wishes, but dude, it’s my birthday. Let me sleep a little.

My mom called around 8:30, forcing me to finally get up.

And while I was enjoying a lovely lunch with my coworkers downtown, my dad left me a melodic message on my voicemail at work.

All day my phone chirped with text messages and my G-mail inbox replenished itself with friendly greetings.

Who doesn’t love a day when your friends and family remind you how awesome you are?

Even though 23 may not be an exciting age for most people, I think this will be a good year for me.

I learn something new about myself every day and learn more about those in my life. For some, it may take decades to solve the mystery of who they are because they bury themselves in work or relationships — anything to avoid themselves.

Me? I don’t have all the answers, but I’ve learned you cannot map out your life; you have to take it as it comes and face yourself. I may still be young, but I know that much.

My senior year of college I weathered an emotional storm; I thought I had to know exactly what I wanted to do and who I wanted to be.

The truth is I had no idea. And when I was able to accept that, I stopped fretting. It may have taken me six months to find a job, but the one I found was a perfect fit.

So, who knows where I’ll go or what I’ll do in my next 23 years.

For now, I’ll just celebrate the accomplishment of being independent, well adjusted and successful. And like one of my friends said when she wished me a happy birthday, “(Turning) 23 does have significance if it gives you a reason to celebrate.”

Catherine Amos is probably still recuperating after her birthday festivities. She can be reached at 825-0771 ext. 138 or .