A Change in Perception

When I was a teenager, I was a huge Duran Duran fan (OK, I still am ... but now it's more about the music than hero worship).

At a slumber party my twin sister and I had for our 14th birthday, we and three of our friends decided to split up the five members of the band, each taking one that would be "ours." My sister Jodi got Andy Taylor, the lead guitarist; Emily got keyboardist Nick Rhodes; Laurie got drummer Roger Taylor; Tina got bassist John Taylor; and I got lead singer Simon leBon.

When we held our member lottery, we didn't know much about the band. In the following weeks, I did a lot of research, and discovered Simon was the oldest band member ... he was born on Oct. 27, 1958.

1958! I did the math. It was May 1984, which meant my member was ... oh my gosh ... 25! And in five months, he would be 26!

I remember thinking how old 26 sounded. Simon leBon was 12 years older than I. My dad would certainly never let us date.

As the years went on, I would think about Simon on his birthdays. When he turned 30 in 1988, it sounded old to me. When he turned 40 in 1998, it still sounded pretty ancient.

I got a text message from Emily (whose member Nick is the youngest member of Duran Duran) yesterday, reminding me that Simon will be hitting the half-century mark next week.

But you know what? I'm 38 now ... and 50 doesn't sound old at all. In fact, I believe 50 is the new 30.

I struck me how my perception of age has changed since I was 14. As I cling to my 30s, I am very aware that I am practically minutes away from turning 40.

The idea of aging scared me a lot more when I was 14 than it does now. When I was a teenager, I thought getting older meant there would be no more fun in my life. Would it even be worth living if I didn't have school dances, slumber parties and marching band?

I didn't know then that I would marry a phenomenal man, have two exquisite children and develop a career I loved. I didn't know how much fun being a grown-up could be.

I don't feel old. I feel accomplished, content and happy.

I'm sure Simon feels the same way.