Signs of Age

I'm not one of those people who gets hung up on getting older. Yeah, my hair's thinning a bit and some of my music is 30 years old, but that's how it goes.

One of my buddies, Chip, was the first of our group to get married (not that I got trashed, but I ended up putting gas in my car on the way home and not remembering it) and have kids. His son was born on my birthday when I was 24.

So, I'm talking to Chip the other day and asking about his son and how he's doing in school. He transferred at the beginning of the school year from a JC to a four-year university and he's on the swim team. So, I was asking Chip about his son's swimming (very good) and grades (eh, so-so) and adjustment to college (excellent). Chip mentions that with his son's 21st birthday coming up he was going to take him to a bar he had his first drink and a bunch of us used to hang frequently. After telling him I'd be there, it sunk in a little that my friends have adult children. This is not the first experience with this (Lynn's son recently turned 21), but it struck me more given that we share the same birthday.

The next day I get a call from Chip's son. He's got a class that's somewhat related to the work I do, so he asked for some help on an assignment. As a parent I'll get to this point eventually, but helping a kid whose diaper you changed on a college homework assignment is sobering. He'd better get a fucking A.