| OPINION
| June 28, 2005
Growing
Gains
Plans to marry a New Kid may
not have happened, but growing up still did
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| The Shorthorn: Quyen Dong |
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I’ve always imagined a certain state
of being that I affectionately term “having it together”
or “ being a grown-up,” and I’ve enjoyed the little
fantasies that go along with it.
As a small child, I anticipated having unlimited money to buy all
the candy I could ever want. I knew I’d need a job to afford
that kind of confection, but I planned on marrying Joe McIntyre
of New Kids on the Block fame. Joe and I would live in Manhattan
where we would walk from chic stores to bohemian cafes while rubbing
elbows with the likes of Madonna, Cyndi Lauper, Prince and MC Hammer
(because all famous people live in Manhattan).
I outgrew some of that. I abandoned my unreasonable crush on Joe
in favor of someone more mature and talented like, say, Gavin Rosedale.
But a few weeks ago, I visited my adviser here and learned that
I only have about nine hours to take before graduation.
Then, in a discussion about grad school, which I always considered
like normal school but for old people, my mom called me “a
grown-up.”
My own mother. What possessed her to say that, I don’t know.
Where is my rock star husband, my ritzy job and my Gucci-clad elitist
friends?
No offense, UTA, but this isn’t Manhattan, and I’m not
famous yet.
This can’t be right.
But as usual, Mom knows what she’s talking about.
I’m old enough to buy beer, fly across the country and set
my own curfew. I even bought a kitten without begging for my parents’permission.
Isn’t that what grown-ups do?
Of course, I still go barefoot when I can get away with it, talk
to my cat and hang out at the zoo, and I don’t expect those
things to change. I’ll keep getting older until I graduate
from yet another school, and one day I’ll be old enough to
retire. Retirement will be good because I’ll have all that
time to play like a little kid again, and I’ll get away with
it because I’ll have grandkids to enjoy.
But in the meantime, I intend to remember how to have fun, and for
heaven’s sake, if I ever lose sight of the simple joy of watching
cartoons, someone kick me back to elementary school.
Kick me hard.
— Mary Richert is an English senior and Scene editor for The
Shorthorn
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