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Dusty Relic

I couldn't write yesterday because of a jolt I received early yesterday morning. It wasn't over the independence of Kosovo and a possible showdown with Russia, it wasn't over the retirement of Fidel Castro and the implications that has on democracy in the Americas. No, the jolt I received was that yesterday Molly Ringwald turned 40 (!!).

I know. Like you, I've had a hard time coming to terms with it. I realize that some of you are of an age where this means nothing to you. But there are those reading this for whom Molly's birthday is a wake-up call. Listen, let me give it to you straight...not only are you getting older, you are absolutely not a teenager anymore. Those days are gone forever. You are a responsible adult. Now, go and get your kids ready for school, and be sure to take your meds, for cyring out loud.

Being a Gen X slacker, I know I'm supposed to connect with "The Breakfast Club," and I do. I know that "Pretty in Pink" will be many a middle-aged woman's favorite Molly Ringwald movie, but I prefer "Sixteen Candles." Ellen Page, the 20 year old star of the extremely popular movie "Juno" (which is about a 16 year old girl who gets pregnant, something that never happened to Molly, if I remember correctly), told Entertainment Weekly magazine that "The Breakfast Club" seemed like a dusty relic, and "It's obviously not about my generation." Oh, really?

"The Breakfast Club" may or may not hold up well 22 (!!) years later, but it touched on a struggle among teenagers in the 80s; a struggle that, sorry Ellen Page, does apply to your generation. Every teenager is on a journey of self-discovery, learning who they are, what they think, how they feel, etc. They won't figure it all out until their adult years (some of us are still working on it), so until then they often adopt a personae so they will fit in with the crowd. They are often united by hairstyles, fashion, music, movies, interests, and so on. Obviously these personaes don't define the totality of who they are. "The Breakfast Club" shows the awkward struggle that takes place when a young adult attempts to understand the different layers of their personality and the natural fear of letting others see those layers. As far as I know, that is a universal rite of passage for every teenager.

So, here's my question for all you Gen Xers out there. So many of us made commitments to the Lord at camps, retreats and Disciple Nows that seemed so real and important at the time. How's that going for you now, 20 years later?

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