This is an interesting question. I think that when we are lucky, we may enter adulthood in a positive way and continue to maintain a part of childhood that sustains us and keeps us young-at-heart. I guess that is a little bit too whoo whoo. The truth is that many of us enter adulthood when a something jolts us out of our innocence. For others, it is a slow, gradual process.
For me, I think the thing that defined my entrance into adulthood was when Roby found out he had HIV. That was sort of a defining moment in my life in so many ways - it was the first time we had to really face our mortality, the first time I didn't believe my life would work out the way I'd always thought it would. It was the first time I gave up on dreams I had had since my early childhood.
At the same time, the jolt into adulthood allowed me to understand and value the moments I could still access my childhood, my child-mind, my enjoyment of simple joys. Knowing that it can all be taken away at any moment helps accentuate the appreciation of those things.
I don't know if this makes any sense at all. It has been a long week and I'm tired, so maybe that's just where my brain is today.
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