Every birthday is a milestone when you are young.
Months counted when you were really little; then quarters and halves. I think it actually takes until you are in the 20s before the halves drop away.
If you are a military brat there are two key birthdays – 21 and 23. Twenty-one is when normal adulthood strikes and you are dropped from the family payroll. If you just happen to be a military dependent and still in school working on your first degree, you can be extended until 23. At which point you turn into a pumpkin.
This particular pumpkin turned 23 today and I don’t have a photo to share. She has turned her life around in the last six months and I am terribly proud (not taking any credit – it has been her hard work and discipline). Right after the first of the year she heads back to the US. Her and the pup.
The pup, who of course, knows that she is in the center of the world.