Being Older

We had a get together with some cousins this weekend, and their conversations are always interesting.

Listening to a group of competitive “big boys” talk, I had forgotten how big of a deal it is to be 4, or 5, or 8, for example.
Three of the boys were brothers, and so instead of calling them by each of their names, my little one said “Hey kids, look at this!”
One of them quickly responded, “I am not a kid! I am 5 years old!”
Their favorite activity of the day was to pick up the largest dirt clods they could find and see how big of a splash it would make when they threw it in the tank. With each dirt clod, the thrower announced, “See I’m strong. I’m 8 years old.”
To which the next one would say, “I’m strong and fast. I am 4 years old.”
The 4 and 5 year old competition was most fierce. Five year old Lane said to 4 year old Tucker: “You might be fast, but I am strong.”
These days, I don’t even remember exactly how old I am. Thirty-three, thirty-four, doesn’t much matter. But I also had two cousins who were extremely close in age, and when we were all 11-12 years old, quite a few serious conversations revolved around who was “older”. I think I was the youngest, or at least they convinced me of that. It seemed every argument boiled down to my cousin Daniel reminding us that, he is “the oldest”, followed by my eye rolls.
But I can also remember that in my basketball games with Jacob (my other cousin), that when he called a foul on me, his “older-ness” was supposedly the final word. Even though, he is literally just a couple days older than me.
So anyhow, the little boys conversations on who was bigger and stronger and who was older, brought back lots of memories. I don’t care if I was the youngest or not, I still think most of the time, I was right. Perhaps that’s why I named my column the way I did. Haha. I will say though, that my cousin Jacob grew up to become a head coach and athletic director, so maybe he did know the rules of refereeing basketball a little better than me after all.
I have a feeling when we get together in another 40 years or so, that I will be reminding Jacob and Daniel that “I am younger”…even if it is just by a couple days. Funny how life works like that.