Oh, to be 17 again!

In two days, I hit the big 5-0. That doesn't bother me because I should have died in 1961 and didn't, so EVERY day on this side of the grass is OK by me (even the suckish ones). Some of the perks include cheaper buffets and movie tickets in one casino chain as well as admission into the senior center around the corner from my house which has the only indoor pool this side of town that does NOT allow kids (woo-hoo!). The center also has all sorts of free classes I might take just for funsies.

But, when I think about it (as all who hit milestones are wont to do), I keep thinking that when I was 17 it was my best year in so many ways.

• I could stay up for days and never complain about being tired.

• I spent the night before I took my SATs getting drunk with a friend, got an hour of sleep and STILL hit four digits comfortably. I doubt I could move now with only an hour of sleep.

• Sachsenhausen was always open and no one carded us because it was "Germany, man!"

• I could sit in the Hauptbahnhof at midnight and not worry about some perv making a grab at me.

• Prom and the Military Ball meant spending the entire weekend in Frankfurt and riding the StraBe all over the place.

• I still had that long, Marsha Brady hair and could rock hot pants without looking like I was wearing pants with rocks in them.

• The art school scholarship I should have taken no matter what my dad said.

• Friends that really did understand it sucked when it was time to move for the 10th time.

• Castles, fairy-tale rivers, Roman ruins just up the road, parties for cities that were thriving even before the Aztecs and Mayans had gotten their stuff together...

• The 2nd annual Rockfest at the Lorelei with Ted Nugent and Aerosmith!

• Still feeling like I could conquer the world if given the chance (well, we know how that went, don't we?).

• So much more, but I think just about everyone has had that one year in their life when they were sure of it all.

Now, life is more about compromise and knowing that you have to make choices you would have screamed about and refused to choose in that one special year. Pay your mortgage instead of going to the rockfest? Never! Staying in to catch up instead of sneaking into Gruenberg Park during the third period break? No way! Now I am reaching the place where I sound like those people I laughed at when I was 17.

You know what? It sucks not to be 17 anymore. There are days when I look for the "do-over button".