Hi! I'm old, and you are?

I was chatting with a friend, R., at the pool today. Her six year old son and my six year old son are "best friends." They've known each other for about a year (met in kindergarten), and so consequently have R. and I.

In the course of today's conversation, she mentioned that she dropped out of college when she became pregnant with her son. (Her employer was paying her tuition, and she couldn't handle a new baby, a full-time job, and school all at the same time.) She also mentioned that she and her husband met when she was nineteen. Add it all up, and she's probably in her late twenties.

I said that my husband and I had also met when we were nineteen. I then said that he and I had known each other for over half our lives. I could see the mental math going on, so I went ahead and answered the unasked question. "Yes, I'm old. I just turned forty a couple of weeks ago."

"Really? You're forty?"

"Yup. Forty."