A few years ago my teen was coming to grips with the idea that people grow old and pass on. As you have read earlier, she dreads growing up and always has. Couple this idea with a wonderful relationship with her grandmother (my mother) and you have a girl who has to come up with a way to make the results seem not so fatal.
We have always teased my mom by saying, "Nana is as old as dirt." Well, when my teen finally realized that old equals "closer to the end", she began defending Nana. The result was a teenager's defense to facing mortality.
She gave "old" a very practical definition. One day, in the middle of a particularly grueling roast about Nana's age, she proclaims, "You're not old until you have a child that is 40. And you don't have a child that's 40 yet, so you can't be old."
We still use that definition around here. Of course, Nana now has two children that are at least 40 and has, by a teenager's definition, officially become old. She still loves her Nana "to pieces;" she's just a little gentler with her now.
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