The Golden Age of Adulthood
“Man 23...Twenty-effing-three.”
This is the text I got from Ally on my birthday.
I always imagined what it would be like to be 23 when I was younger. The Golden Age of Adulthood, you could call it.
I pictured myself living in a big city, in the heart of downtown, drinking lattes in little cafés on my Sunday mornings. I saw myself being kissed goodnight on a stoop next to a trash can that stayed on the sidewalk. I would walk through an office building made entirely of glass, Devil Wears Prada style, in my high heels and pencil skirt, on the brink of missing my morning meeting, if only because my morning cup of joe I drank on my building’s rooftop captured my heart for a little too long.
I dream big. Bigger than most. But here’s my reality, and it’s not that different from when I imagined it when I was a kid:
I am living in a big city. At least, my address says Houston, but I’m 30 minutes from the downtown area. Could be worse.
I drink lattes in cafés, but on Saturdays instead of Sundays, which really isn’t too much to complain about. It’s only a day, but the company I keep more than makes up for it.
I don’t have a stoop, my trash can stays inside, and my goodnight kisses happen outside of my little suburban apartment, right off the highway. The sound of sirens are just as romantic from the suburbs as they are from downtown, I promise.
My office is grey and bland and dated, but I still badge in and walk like Tyra taught me because I am one of the lucky ones. I have a job that I love where I’m encouraged to be my passionate, creative and offbeat self. Zero complaints.
My morning cup of joe isn’t enjoyed from my swanky apartment’s rooftop, but rather in my bathroom as I rush to put on my makeup before work because I hit snooze for an entire hour. Again.
Twenty-three is not really how I pictured it. It’s not like the movies or the magazines or the books I read growing up. It’s better. Cinematic scenes are great, but they’re not real.
I’m always going to worry about the future. That’s just the way I’m wired. But as he said after our latte-sipping Saturday at the hole-in-the-wall café:
“Do you feel that? Isn’t it great to just live in the present?”
Yes. Yes it is.
KENDALL CHERRY
That First Year Co-Founder
Kendall graduated in December 2014 from Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas with a degree in Communications. She is passionate about helping others reach their full potential and aspires to be a real life super hero, minus the cape. Kendall plans to earn her doctoral degree to research and advocate for children in urban education. To quote her favorite band, Death Cab for Cutie, “she may be young but she only likes old things.” Vinyl records. Books you can hold in your hands. Face-to-face conversation. She also experiences a weekly identity crisis on her extro/intro-vertedness.
See all of Kendall's posts here.
