Your age, please.

When I was younger, there were a select list of questions I would answer without blinking--What grade are you in? When is your birthday? What is your teacher's name? How old are you? Anyone asking these questions was viewed as incompetent since the answers were SO obvious. Duh, I was in X grade, everyone knew that...my teacher was Mrs. Long...my birthday is in September...and of COURSE I am [this many] years old!

Over the weekend, I completed an entry form for a local 5K in July in our town. The questions were routinely completed...Name? Address? Easy. Age at race date?

I stared at Ted. How old am I? I realized then that at some point after my 23rd birthday, I (without realizing it) had stopped counting. I thought I was 24, then laughed and went to write 25. Ted stared back at me. For some reason, he has been able to remember his age and answer it on a whim. I now rely on the calculater--this year minus my birth year, plus -1 since my birthday hasn't arrived yet. And you would think the first time I forgot such an important fact, it would be the last. Not true.

This has happened on many occasions, but not just filling out an entry form. I was searching a popular website for classmates I have lost touch with, and was allowed to enter an age range in which I could limit my search. While reviewing the list of returned names, I found myself clicking on those whose age was reported as "24", or "23", thinking they were in my graduating class and I would know them. I was shocked to see those were the ones who were starting school after I left...therefore I would only have crossed their paths if they were visiting prior to their high school graduation.

I never imagined I'd be so senile as to forget my age. For years, that established who I was...now, suddenly, I'm required to resort to basic mathmatic skills to figure out how old I'll be on my next birthday.