26 times two

"Time slips away and leaves you with nothin', mister, but boring stories of..." ~ Springsteen

I'd lie in that Beacon Street bedroom, probably 8 or 9 years old, and pray night after night for God to please just let me live to see 1999.  

Why?

There could have been a few reasons.  Early-onset anxiety.  The doomsday preachers at church.  AIDS.  My parents let me watch The Day After.  Whatever the cause, I was sure I would die "young" or that the world was going to end soon.  

My mind was unable to imagine growing up and being an adult.  (Some might say they still can't imagine me as an adult.)  Having a job.  Buying or renting a place to live.  Having kids.  These all seemed like impossibilities to me.  So if I could make it to twenty-six, that felt like a good number of years.  No doubt, twenty-six-year-old me would've vehemently disagreed.

Spoiler alert: I made it.  And by 1999 I doubt I was even thinking about the milestone.  We were more worried about Y2K.  Would clocks run backwards?  Would the government declare martial law?  What was the meaning of "Two thousand zero zero, party over, oops out of time?"  Had Prince known something the rest of us had not?

It appears not.  Unless his song was a revelation of the martial law plot causing them to call it off.  Or maybe Marty McFly had gone back in time and fixed the problem.  That could have happened, I was so confused by the third one I had no idea what year they were in.

Years.  Each once represented such a long span of time.  Now they seem but wisps.  A blur of fading mental photographs and "that was the year we" recollections.

As for 26, it was a big year for me.  Lost a fiancé.  Found some new friends.  It was the year I bought a new truck.  Five-speed.  Engine automatically cut off at 100 mph.  Beacon Street me's mind would have been blown.

Back then, I don't think I ever once tried to picture making it past 26.  And now, as of today, I'm at twice that.  Wishing there was a way to let off the accelerator a little.  

Hmm, maybe there's a deeper, hidden meaning about human existence and the space-time continuum in Sammy Hagar's I Can't Drive 55, as well!)

But hey, from what I've read during hours spent on Wikipedia, Earth's orbit is actually getting infinitesimally slower due to the sun losing mass.  So go ahead, enjoy an extra nanosecond or two on me.

I like to look at it this way: In little Bone's eyes, I have already experienced two whole lifetimes!

No, the years aren't passing any faster.  But they sure become more valuable once you notice your supply starting to dwindle.