I’m 20 days into my “40 Things I Learned As I Turn 40” series on Twitter (X), Medium, and Substack.
I’ve been branching out with different stories, tidbits, and articles, across multiple social media platforms.
The goal has been to express and push my writing mind as I turn 40. Reflect on what I have done, where I am now, and where I plan on going for the next 40 years.
Today, I’m covering ages ten through twenty. 1994 to 2004. A second decade of life.
Age ten, fourth grade. My best friends are Dan, Matthew, Josh, and my cousin. Sleepovers are spent playing sports, roaming around fields, camping outside, and playing video games inside.
While my first kiss was in second grade, on the back of a school bus, my first full-on makeout session was in fifth grade. The girl had a totally 90s Charlotte Hornets starter jacket. I had the same. It was meant to be.
Fifth grade was spent with Josh quite often. This is when we solidified our friendship, since we had the same teacher, and sat by one another. We were also on the same basketball team and went to the same church. Josh lived across my family-owned field. It took mere minutes for us to reach one another.
By sixth grade, I thought my newfound “experience” with a girl would yield even more results, so I began asking out any girl I could. I was rejected by every girl, outside of one Spring Break fling that consisted of only phone conversations.
When my classmates returned, so did I being single. Ah, yes, hidden love. I peaked so early.
I had fun as a youth. Fun that I took for granted. I dyed my hair for the first time, in eighth grade. The first time I shaved was the night of eighth-grade graduation. It was also the first time I declined to go to an after-party.
This would set me up for the rest of my (self-imposed) high school depression.
1999 was the start of freshman year, and I knew something was off the very first day. I was surrounded by kids bigger, stronger, and older than I. Intimidating.
I went from being one of the cool-kid jocks in middle school to suddenly being the odd one out. My jokes were no longer funny. I was mocked because of my video game playing. It was as if everyone around me grew up over summer break, and I stayed the same.
I thought we would stay young forever. I didn’t want the sleepovers and late-night video game sessions or Pokemon card trading to end. But it did. The summer of ’99 ended it all.
I became rebellious, and against everyone, for no reason at all.
Fate would play a part though, as my Sociology class took a field trip to a funeral home my junior year. It was then that I first thought, “Hey, I could do this someday.” It took me a decade to try and find out.
After graduating high school in 2003, up until 2004, I took the year off, doing what I had always loved: playing video games and Pokemon card collecting.
I didn’t know it then, but we were in the “good old days,” between myself, Josh, Dan, and Matthew.
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Life, Death, and Everything in Between. 