The lunchroom was filled with chatter, shrieks, and noise that only middle schoolers could produce. As I sat at a table, waiting for a few former students to sign a book for a retiring teacher, I caught up with them.
“Ms. Bless, can you believe I’m going to be thirteen this week?!”
“Wow! That’s scary! I’m going to be thirty this summer.”
“That’s even scarier!”
I can always count on kids to be honest and blunt!
But, as August approaches, I keeping thinking about that Tim McGraw song “My Next Thirty Years.” I remember hearing that song when it was released, thirty seemed so old. And now I am almost there and I can’t help but reflect on these past thirty years and what I want out of the next thirty…
jenniebblog 
Age is so relative! Lol I’m turning 40 in Oct… 40 doesn’t seem so old anymore. 🙂
46 here, just celebrated my 20th wedding anniversary! I remember when I turned 30. Enjoy the coming decade and this milestone year. I always say, “Older=wiser!” I wish I felt wiser!
For me, life after 30 has been much more rewarding that life before 30! And that is a great song to think on and put into practice!
Oh ho, I have you all bested. I will turn 66 on my next birthday. i have lived beyond my dreams- i never imagined being this age.
Nancy
I still laugh when I tell people I am 51. How did I get so old?
Turning 30 was scarier for me than turning 40. Looking back, being 30 was a beautiful time of my life. My mom (72) still laughs when she thinks back to being 18 and considering a 25-year-old colleague to be extremely old. It’s all about perspective. I hope you will have a great birthday.
Now I have that song running through my head. I remember thinking the exact same thing when I turned 30. (I’m a huge Tim McGraw fan.) Now, I’m 3/4 of a year away from 40, and Humble and Kind has become my newest anthem. It’s funny the part that music plays in our lives.
As for kids, I had students make me birthday cards this year addressed to Mrs. Oldonnell. They didn’t even mean to. Kids do the darnedest things.