Youth

Today at church we were introduced to a new missionary that is serving in our ward. My first thought when I saw him was, "Wow. I didn't know that they let the the Young Men go on missions." In other words, he looked very young, in the 10-14 years old range. Anyway, I don't feel bad about mocking his youthful appearance because I've experienced people thinking I'm younger than I am. Unfortunately my voice doesn't help any in making me sound more mature. Now that I'm in my thirties, looking and sounding young doesn't bother me. But in my teens and twenties I failed to realize that it might eventually be flattering. It's weird though because when I study myself in the mirror, I see exactly a 33 year old in physical appearance, which makes me believe that I must just simply exude immaturity. I'm ok with that. I will always think fart sounds are funny.

My husband reminded me at lunch today about a time after we first got married. I was 24 years old. We were both serving in the Youth program at church and were chaperoning a youth dance. I was standing around chaperoning and a boy came and asked me to dance. I danced with him. He was about the same height as me, probably about 15 or 16 years old. I think I asked him if he was having a good time. Then he asked me what school I went to. It wasn't until that point that I realized he actually thought I was a teenager. I thought he was just a nice kid trying to be nice to a youth leader by asking her to dance. My brain immediately raced to find the appropriate response in order not to embarrass him or myself. I didn't find it and I just simply said, "I don't go to school. I'm a leader." I don't remember his response because it was at that point that I tucked the experience into the back of my memory. I felt so bad for him because I could tell he was embarrassed. Thankfully the song ended and I quickly went back to my fellow youth leaders and laughed off the embarassment with them. I'm glad I didn't tell the kid I was pregnant. It still cracks me up to think about it. I'm sure if the lights weren't dim, he would've seen that I was nearly 10 years older than him and that the ring on my left hand was not a CTR ring.

So yay, for youthful looks. I guess. I see the crow's feet, sagging lines around the mouth, and fading collagen. So I'm thinking maybe it's my youthful chest that can still fit into a pre-teen training bra that gives me a younger appearance? I don't know. I just hope to live to be a ripe old age and that my voice will deepen as I grow older.

Now here's a picture depicting the delicious part of youth:

And a here is a gift from my older sister this past Christmas:

Seriously, what's the point in growing up? Maturity is so boring.