There's No Where Else I'd Rather Be

I was born on Friday, October 21st, 1983 at Blessing Hospital in Quincy, Illinois (with a life expectancy of 74.6 years) under the President of Ronald Reagan and Vice President George Bush. I assisted in making the U.S. population 233,791,994 that year, and the World population 4.690 billion. Not only was I born this day, but at the 17th General Conference on Weights and Measures, the metre is defined in terms of the speed of light as the distance light travels in a vacuum in 1/299,792,458 of a second. I know, right!

Some of the hit singles that year include – “Africa” by Toto, “1999” by Prince, “Thriller” by Micheal Jackson, “Cut Like A Knife” by Bryan Adams, “New Year’s Day” by U2, and “Sharp Dressed Man” by ZZ Top. The top 5 movies of 1983 were Return of The Jedi, Terms of Endearment, Flashdance, Trading Places, and War Games.

Price of things in 1983:
Average Cost of new house $82,600.00
Average Income per year $21,070.00
Average Monthly Rent $335.00
Dodge RAM 50 Truck $5665.00
Gallon of Gas $0.81
First Class Stamp $0.20
Dozen Eggs $0.86
Gallon of Milk $2.24

Other highlights of 1983:
Unemployment rose to 12 million, the highest figure since 1941, hurricane Alicia hit the Texas coast killing 22, the U.S Embassy was bombed in Beirut killing 63 people, a 5.2 earthquake hit Central New York, Richard Noble set a new land speed record of 633.468 mph driving Thrust 2 at the Black Rock Desert, Nevada, and Sally Ride became the first American woman in space on the Space Shuttle Challenger.

The Super Bowl was Washington vs Miami (27-17), World Series was Baltimore vs Philadelphia Phillies (4-1), NBA Championship: Philadelphia 76ers vs LA Lakers (4-0), Stanley Cup: NY Islanders vs Edmonton (4-0), Wimbledon Women: Martina Navratilova vs A. Jaeger (6-0 6-3), Wimbledon Men: John McEnroe vs C. Lewis (6-2 6-2 6-2), Kentucky Derby Champion: Sunny's Halo, NCAA Basketball Championship: N.C. State vs Houston (54-52), NCAA Football Champions: Miami-FL (11-1-0)

Crack cocaine was developed in the Bahamas, and soon appeared in the United States. The FCC authorized Motorola to begin testing cellular phone service in Chicago. The El Niño phenomenon disrupted global weather patterns. Henry Taube showed research on how electrons transfer between molecules in chemical reactions. Subrahmanyam Chandrasekhar and William A. Fowler showed complementary research on processes involved in the evolution of stars. Barbara McClintock discovered mobile genes in the chromosomes of a plant that change the future generations of plants they produce.

All of this, the day and the year I was born. In my 26 years, what have I learned? After careful consideration, immense sleepless nights, here’s what I’ve decided…. There’s no such thing as a “grown-up”. We move on, we move out, we move away from our families… and form our own. But the basic insecurities, the basic fears – all those old wounds, they just grow up with us. We get bigger, we get taller, we get older, but for the most part – we’re still a bunch of kids, running around the playground – trying to fit in. I’ve heard that its possible to grow up, I’ve just never met anyone who’s actually done it. Without parents to defy, we break the rules we make for ourselves. We throw tantrums when things don’t go our way. We whisper secrets with our best friends in the dark. We look for comfort where we can find it. And we hope – against all logic, against all experience. Like children, we never give up hope.

Hope for a great year, because right now, there's no where else I'd rather be than celebrating my 26th birthday.... on a ship.... in Africa.