And to celebrate that fact. Let's discuss this surreal topic.
What age hit you the hardest? When did you look in the mirror and go "Oh God!"?

This has happened to me multiple times in my life, but I'm 21 now. In the states, that's the legal drinking age. An age I'd barely ever actually thought about. Now I can legally consume alcohol, essentially removing all the fun.

But I remember being 19, vividly. And I'm almost 21. It's such a strange effect. Years are so short. Does anyone else have this issue?

I remember riding down a little dirt hump beside our apartment building on my big wheel when I was four. I remember the next apartment we lived in flooding the next year. Moving forward, I recall losing my first tooth when I was six, taking in a puppy which lead me to meet several people who would become my closest friends for several years, signing up to Adventure Quest Worlds and Kongregate and having a particularly vulgar, angry and toxic 13th year, our unit's financial collapse, eviction and relocation in 2010, and my signing up to Vizzed a few years later.

Now, I'll be 23 in June, and while it seemed an eternity then, I'm amazed at how fast it seems to have gone. Parents always said that your life passes you by faster than you realize, but it's an extremely foreign concept when you're little. It's something you have to experience to understand.

Time flies much more than you can imagine.

I vividly remember school like if it was yesterday. However, this summer will mark 7 years since I finished it and tried to access university. I spent 16 years in the same school, because I never transferred, and now I've almost spent half that time away from it.

So far, no age has hit me hard. I can feel the weight of time as it passes, but nothing too important yet. It was quite the hit when I became 25, but it had nothing to do with age, rather with how life was going for me.

It surely will be a hit to reach 30. It's not that far away because I'm turning 27 next winter, so maybe I'm gradually adapting to receive the big hit without consequences.

I know the feeling. I'm only 25 and I feel a lot older than that. I've had a weirdly eventful life, so it feels much longer than it is. My parents split up when I was 5. Mom realized she was a lesbian and decided to start a new life a few states away. So, my dad raised me with the help of his mother and siblings. I had a happy childhood, in spite of being precocious and a bit of a geek . Then my dad died when I was 11. It was hard and I never really got over it. My mom came down for the funeral and asked if I wanted to live with her. I said yes and left everything I knew behind. Middle school sucked, but then again when doesn't it? It was nice getting to know my mom. She was quirky and interesting and I feel like I learned a lot from her. She died when I was 14. However, her girlfriend and her girlfriend's son had been living with us for a couple of years, and they graciously took me in. It was rough at first getting to know a new parent and getting a feel for the new boundaries. I had a lot of "You are not my mom" moments, and for some reason thought that at 15 I was all grown up. It all worked out though. I got to go to an art high school, which granted me acceptance like I'd never felt before, and increased my skills as an artist by a lot. By the end of it my mom's girlfriend was more of a mom to me than I had ever had, and I had fully embraced having a new brother. Then after I graduated, mom lost her job, lost the house, lost her mom, and became an alcoholic. I used my inheritance to keep us afloat as long as I could. I became the parent as mom became further and further debilitated. I tried to protect my brother from the worst of it. I wanted him to have a normal life anyway. Mom died a little over a year ago. My brother moved out on his own at 19. I'm very proud of him. Me, I was too depressed to live alone safely, so I transferred to another college, and moved so I could be with my father's family again. It was the best decision I have made in years. I'm a lot happier. I also met my boyfriend, who has been amazingly loving and supportive. So I feel old, but I'm learning to be young again a little bit each day.

Norriegirl93 : Every time you recount details of your life on this site, it's overwhelmingly emotional. No wonder you feel like you've had a long life. You've probably earned enough karma to live happily for the rest of it.

pennylessz :
Thanks. I don't want to be a downer, but it helps to get it out. I appreciate the thought, though. I'd be okay with it being uneventful from here on out