26

25 was a good year. I worried about it a little at first. No longer, I thought, could I claim to be in my early twenties. What horror. But then an attractive girl said to me, "25 is hot." And then it was OK.

26, though? What's special about turning 26? Nothing. It's just older than 25, and fast approaching late-twenties. And in Provo, unmarried, 26 starts to feel downright deviant. I apologize, Provo, for not being married. Trust that I find myself feeling a modicum of guilt for taking 19 to 22-yr-old girls on dates. I confess that I do my best not to think about how old they were when I was graduating from high school. Or how recently they graduated from high school. Let's just not think about high school.

Anyway. 26.

To soften the blow, I've managed to prolong my birthday celebrations to last a whole week. My birthday was on the 20th, which fell on a Sunday this year. So, the day before, I rounded up a few of my closest friends--people I've known for at least a couple of years--and went out to dinner. Then a few of us headed back to my place to watch Star Trek (a fantastically entertaining movie that holds up surprisingly well under multiple rewatchings).

The next day, my dear mother had organized a little get-together up at her place in Midvale. Again, close friends, some relatives, some of my mom's neighbors and church-folk. Cupcakes. It was pleasant to perfection. Exactly what a Sunday birthday ought to be.

In the meantime, an astounding number of people engaged in birthday well-wishing on my Facebook wall. I even got a few longer form emails. If you were one of the people who contributed to that veritable deluge of digital love, let me say, formally, Thank You. Way to make a guy feel special.

And now it's today. Over a week ago, I created a Facebook event dedicated to the fact that one of my best friends and current roommate, Daniel Ray Atwood, has his birthday on the 26th. Since this is likely the last opportunity we'll have to do so, throwing a combined birthday party seemed like a grand idea. I guess we'll find out soon if we were right. I should say that I expect it to be a fantastic party. Our current apartment has a pretty good track record for this sort of thing.

But regardless, it's become clear over the past week that I've got nothing to worry about. I'm living through the best years of my life up to this point. I'm surrounded by some of the best people I've ever met. I have a wonderful family and more wonderful friends than I know what to do with. My day-to-day endeavors are almost always exciting and satisfying. My future is, if not totally clear, certainly bright.

So when people start showing up to party tonight, I won't be trying to distract myself from the prospect of arriving at a less comfortable age, I'll be celebrating the myriad of phenomenal individuals that make my life as joyful as it is.