MATTHEW BURNETTE

Staff Writer

August 10, 1993 was a historic day.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg was sworn in as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, becoming only the second woman at the point to be confirmed to the institution.

The Fugitive was captivating audiences as Harrison Ford’s Dr. Richard Kimble evaded Tommy Lee Jones’s Deputy Samuel Gerard while tirelessly trying to clear his name in the murder of his wife.

In the music world, UB40’s reggae-pop cover of “Can’t Help Falling in Love” sat at number one on the Billboard chart followed by arguably one of the Pulitzer Prize for Music’s most tragically overlooked compositions: Tag Team’s “Whoomp! (There It Is).”

Also on that day, probably way less significant to the entirety of the world but definitely the most important event of my life, I was born.

At McMinnville’s River Park Hospital, I made my emergence into the world. While I obviously don’t remember anything from that day, the recollections I’ve heard from various relatives have led me to understand that it was a rather momentous occasion, as any new baby hopefully is.

There are some moments where I can’t believe that I am 33. Sometimes I’ll get a sudden burst of energy that will trick my mind into thinking we’re still a teenager or at the very least, as Taylor Swift once said, “feelin’ 22.”

Those are usually the moments where I make some not-so-smart decisions.

Then there are other times where I’m sitting a little too far back in my desk chair and reach a little too far forward to grab something off my desk when a sharp pain will radiate down my hip and I wonder to myself “Geez, what am I, 97?”

I’ve had some memorable birthdays over the years.

The year I turned four we made the trek to Nashville for a party at Chuck E. Cheese, though the memories of that occasion are mostly relegated to what I’ve seen in photographs.

This was the old era of children’s establishment where the whole cast of animatronic characters would put on a show and his highness, the honorable Charles Entertainment Cheese himself, would walk around and greet his patrons.

I have my doubts that I reacted positively to that part of the occasion.

A couple of years later, my birthday fell on a Sunday, and so my special treat was that I got to ride in the front seat on the way to church that day.

A different era indeed.

There were also some less fun birthdays. Three days after turning 18 with college and the next big chapter of my life looming, I broke my ankle in three places in an unfortunate roller-skating accident.

The unfortunate part is that I had no idea how to roller skate but kept trying after I fell the first time.

The day after my 21st birthday, as we all prepared to go out for a birthday dinner where I would get to have my “first” alcoholic beverage, breaking news came across the television that said Robin Williams, possibly my favorite performer both as a kid and adult, had passed away.

Despite any ideations of being old now or anything else that comes along this time of year as I push over another bead on the abacus of life, there’s an abundant sense of enthusiasm for just life in general.

At the tail end of last year and into the beginning of this one, I lost a dear friend, a couple of older relatives and two long-tenured church members that I had known for a long time. Though the year started with this looming sense of darkness, I somehow find myself incredibly appreciative for life and what’s to come.

I’m excited to start this next year as a 33-year-old, regardless of the fact that I found the longest gray hair sticking out of my chin while in the car the other day.

If my estimation is correct and everything goes as planned, then by the time you are reading this I will have spent my 33rd birthday first at the DMV in the morning renewing my driver’s license and trying to angle my head in the photo so you can’t see the aforementioned gray hair.

Then I will have made my way into the office to write or talk to folks or whatever else the day offers before making my way that night to cover the August meeting of the County School Board.

You may be thinking to yourself “Well that doesn’t sound like a great way to spend a birthday,” but this year in particular I can’t help but think it’s the perfect way.

Sure, parties and nice dinners are great, and I’m sure my family and I will have carved out a time to do just that, but what better way to celebrate being granted another year of life than by living life?

Trying to find every opportunity to feel joy while also trying to find joy in every opportunity and spending most of the day doing the work that I enjoy.

I’m looking forward to 33 and navigating all of the joys, silliness and everything else life has to offer, as long as there’s not too many more of those gray hairs.