49 I just turned forty-nine years old, the day before yesterday. Forty-nine. Fooouuurrrtyyy. Nine. I am forty-nine years old. Half a century. Is there supposed to be a hyphen in forty-nine? The words themselves, "forty" and "nine" hold no real meaning, other than quantifications of a thing or things. In this case, a quantification of years; years spent on this planet, in this skin, with this mind and these memories and experiences. But, does forty-nine equal experienced, that is, knowledgeable and wise? To be honest, it does not feel like the equation pans out. So far, forty-nine just means forty-nine. Half a century. So, it was my birthday on Friday; so, I turned forty-nine. The whole situation seems unreal to me. I am kinda wondering what happened, exactly. I don't remember slipping this far down the timeline. What was I doing, and where have I been? It is amazing how hard my life is ...