"I intend to live forever. So far, so good."
- Anonymous

"I look forward to growing old."

"Are you insane?" Lisa gasped. She regarded me like a little puppy that just ate his own poop.

I shrugged. "Why, you don't at all?"

"I repeat: Are you insane?" She waved her hand dismissively. "You know what? Don't even answer that."

"Insane in the membrane," I said in a small voice. She ignored me.

"I would love to be a kid again. To have no responsibilities, no worries, no stress. To wake up and be able to watch Saturday morning cartoons." She looked out the window and sighed. "Life was so much easier back then."

I leaned back and took a sip of hot mocha. "Was it really? As a kid, weren't you in a rush to grow up and be an adult, so you could drive and drink and do grown-up things?"

"Well, sure, every kid wants that. But they don't know any better."

"And as a teen, weren't you always stressed out about something dumb? Like over who you liked or who to take to the prom or final exams?"

Lisa pushed her macchiato aside. "Childhood is an idyllic time. Who to take to the prom is such a smaller thing than say, a mortgage you can barely meet. Right? Even someone as insane as you can agree with that."

"Sure, but not to the kid at that time. When you're a kid, every little problem seems like the end of the world. And that's a lot of stress."

She deflated into her chair. One listless hand picked up her macchiato and swirled it. "Still, I can't help but think back to being a kid and missing those days."

I took another sip of hot mocha. It was cooling off now. "I know what you mean. Relative to adult problems, kid problems are much, much smaller."

"So," she put her macchiato down, "why do you look forward to growing old?"

"You're going to think I'm even more insane than you already do."

"Impossible. I already think you're damn insane. But go on."

"Okay." I cleared my throat and sat up straight. "I look forward to the extra responsibilities. Like: immediate and extended family; house and mortgage; potential businesses and investments. I look forward to being able to do more things, to understanding more about life, and to being responsible for bigger issues."

Lisa arched one eyebrow. I continued. "I have these big goals of changing the world, right? Changing the education system, starting socially-beneficial companies, etc, right?" She nodded. "Those are my stretch goals. My realistic goals are to have a good family, to be the kind of grandfather who tells his grandkids lots of stories, and to be a writer."

Lisa scratched her head. A loose strand of hair dangled and she tied it back up. I continued. "Personally, I didn't like a lot of my childhood. I spent most of my energy trying not to be made fun of by racists. But it's taught me to be much stronger. And I've found that each successive year that I live has been better and brighter than the last."

I leaned back and shuffled in my chair. "Whoa, I feel like I just took a major dump." She swirled her macchiato, then took a sip. I could tell she was digesting. Outside, a group of kids wandered by, followed by a loner. He looked at me and scurried off.

"You're certainly one goal-oriented guy," she declared. "I guess can see why you look forward to growing old too. People who have rough childhoods, then go on to make something of their lives, tend to look to the future."

"It's not that I had a rough childhood though," I added.

"Right, right, I know. I don't mean you had a bad one. But you didn't have an idyllic one, at least. And since you're someone who actually sets goals and achieves them, each successive goal you reach must feel great."

I blushed. "Well, I…"

"Plus, and most importantly," she started. I waited on the perch of my seat as she leaned forward and looked me straight in the eye. "You're insane."

"In the membrane," I whispered.

She groaned. "And plus, who the hell doesn't look back fondly at childhood and playing with toys and watching cartoons and having no worries?"

"What? Didn't you just say…"

"Don't even answer that." She waved her hand dismissively. "Insane people never know when they're insane. Tell that to your grandkids."

. . .

Do you look forward to growing old?