We're the Adults Now...

If you had to be inside before the streetlights came on, yeah I'm talking to you.

Honey! Listen, I had a revelation a few weeks ago.

I was talking to my best friend about her day, and she was heading out to pick up her daughter (my sweet niece) from school. This was a few days before the solar eclipse. It was a day that we were all preparing for, this side of the sun - pun intended. She said because baby girl’s school would be out that day, she was preparing quite a bit for the 2-minute event. Solar snacks, pizza night, and even a whimsy drink to go with it. She had it all planned out. I told her, “Wow, you have a lot packed in huh?” She replied, “I mean you know, we’re the adults now so what must be done has to get done Lyd.” I paused. I gasped. I pondered. My mind even took an extra beat to calculate what she murmured. I said, “You know what?! Girl…that is the absolute truth. Wow.”

Such a clear statement truly blew my mind.

There were no lies told. We ARE the adults now. We are the ones who get home from work (or leave our home offices) and are ready for that midday slumber. We are the ones who have looked at life as is, and question what it truly is and has been for these past two, or three decades! Where the flip has the time gone? By we I mean the young 30-somethings that may or may not be married, have kids, or even a mortgage. The young ones who grew up with Nick-at-nite, Disney Channel Original movies, and Gullah Gullah Island. We young bucks who have the other young bucks (Boomers) as parents. We were in grade school during 9/11 and, lived through the recession a.k.a. Obama’s prime time.

Y’all, we survived a pandemic, took social media by storm, and completed more DIY projects that Pinterest did well to provide. We were laid off from a workforce that we had already set out to escape from in the first place! We are those who look at our dreams as catapults to get us where we want to be in life. And we’re the peeps who have taken the act of therapy, self-love, and self-worth to the next level. That’s a statement I’m proud of. The way we will take a trip abroad in a second! Baby, we are living out here. Enjoying Carnival in spots like Trinidad, taking the cruises to the Med, and hitting up Europe like no tomorrow.

In the words of Ye, “How Sway?”

Even that part - most of us have divided between Donda’s Ye, and the Chi-town spitting phenom that was the “College Dropout” Kanye West. The one who took a trash bag worn with rubber space shoes then walked it in Milan’s finest show, and said “This is fashion". That’s another topic though.

HOW DID WE GET HERE?

I truly want to know. As I have settled into this admittance to the early-mid 30s club, I’m always flabbergasted at how life has transpired. Be it the new fashion of today, the music - the quality of music, excuse me. The all-around outlook on how we’ve grown within this society of gender norms, politics, and worldly issues. How religion has even taken its toll on us and how we changed our input on it as a whole. The spiritual vs. religious phenomenon is a strong course that’s made a big statement within our group. Look it - we are the ones who grew up with the old-school Fred Hammond and Kirk Franklin. This is why we knew every song while watching their Verzuz, and practically each one that was broadcast during that time. Come on - Patti and Gladys? Brandy vs Monica, Dipset vs Lox?! Listen, Jadakiss came all the way live in that one, you can’t lie.

It’s an exciting time I feel.

To grow up during this time, and look back at how much time has truly flown by. It’s a good moment to be in, and an even bigger one to cherish. I love this for us.