18 days and then it is the perfect number

The number 18 has a certain amount of significance in American culture. We turn 18. We become adults. We go to college and get credit cards in our names. We can go into the military and we can also vote but yet we still cannot legally purchase alcohol. 18! It is such an important time that Moby titled his 2002 album 18 (ok, that’s really doesn’t make my case).

I turned 18 with much internal fanfare and no external acts of joy. It was what it was.  I was in a foreign land away from family and home. I was a bit lonely but free. Free to do what I didn’t quite know. I still had no money and was getting ready to go to college not knowing how things would turn out.  I suppose no one does, really. Ironically, in Hebrew the word for life has the numerical value of 18.  We mark a major milestone in life with the number 18.

My son’s birthday is coming. No, he will not be turning 18. He will be turning six in 18 days. Six years old and I do not know where the time went.  I cannot even imagine how it will be when he turns 18.  That age seems such a lonely time when the kids leave and you are left with an empty room to redecorate, repurpose or turn into some weird homage.  Luckily, my son is not turning 18. He is just still going to be a little boy at 6 years of age.

No one rally talks much about 6-year old children. When they turn 5 years of age it is a big deal as that is when they are going into kindergarten (at least in the United States). When they turn 7 there is a major shift in cognitive functions. Supposedly. However, boys are a little slower than girls. What about 6?

Did you know that 6 is the perfect number?  Literally. Since six equals the sum of its proper divisors, six is the smallest perfect number.  Furthermore, is the only number that is both the sum and the product of three consecutive positive numbers.  It seems that I am then for a treat in the coming year. My son is so excited to be turning six as he is one of the youngest in his class. Some of his friends already turned six in January and February. He has been waiting 8 months for that magical day the calendar notes he no longer five years old. He recognizes it as a day and age where something grand will occur. He will be a first-grader. He believes that everything will change that day.

How lovely to have such a firm belief system in which a number just magically turns everything around and moves one forward.   I kind of miss that feeling of eager anticipation and sense that the world has yet many grand surprises in store for one. The twinkle in his eye at the mention of turning 6 is soul tingling.  He is savoring the act of turning six even more than the idea of getting birthday gifts.  Ah, to savor a day. 18 days and then I can capture that moment of actualization through my own eyes and bones. I can’t wait to feel his energy and giddiness run through my arms encircling him.

18 days and then it is the perfect number.