Expiration Dates

Every good and necessary element of life has an expiration date, and when neglected or ignored, there's nothing but sadness and frustration greeting you at that point of realization.

How awesome are coupons, especially those that aren't slid underneath everyone's door or tagged to the windshield of your car? Equally awesome is that sense of "beating the Man" when you gingerly, yet confidently, slide that torn little piece of paper into the check jacket at the end of the meal, knowing that you just "lucked out". What's not as rewarding is when that coupon is returned to you, only to be reminded that the small print clearly indicates this particular deal ended seven months ago.

Each morning, I eagerly yank open the refrigerator door, desperately searching for that needed dairy addition to my caffeine fix. Have you ever dumped two-week old half and half into a $5 cup of coffee? Can you even imagine how hostile those little iceberg-like chunks of curled milk make a person whose life necessitates Starbucks Casi Cielo?

We check dates on food, medication, motor oil, credit cards, and even bottled water. Everywhere around us, we're reminded of beginnings and endings. Great joy exists when that product is captured, created for someone else to enjoy, but what great disappointment comes when we've lost out on time.

Today, my driver's license expires, bringing a close to my 29th year of life. I noticed last night at dinner the two most important dates on the card; my DOB and my expiration date. Sure enough, thirty years exist between the two. And while the small, yet intimidating collection of grey hairs are starting a movement on the right side of my scalp, and the pant size on a recent shopping trip increased by 2 all should have brought about this moment of reflection...this moment of "really?"...I sit now and give thanks for 30 years (with expensive coffee slightly greeted with fresh half and half). While my license says that I have expired and must make a change, I really feel no different than I did 7 years ago when I acquired this piece of plastic. Certainly my life, surroundings, and internal musings have increased and changed the way that I live; waking up this morning while greeted by my beautiful wife and son exemplify this perfectly. But today I realize that as the numbers of my age flip on the score chart of life, the celebration of living and being given another day should be a more frequently occurrence.