My Time

Sixteen years is a long time. It's longer than some marriages last. It's longer than some people get a chance to live. It's longer than elementary, middle, and high school put together.

It's how long I've been alive.

People are always saying how we're too young to understand things. We're too young to be in love. We're too young to enlist in the army. Too young to vote. Too young to hold down real jobs. It's almost as if what we do or say or feel doesn't matter. But it does; what we feel is real.

My sixteen years have been marked by happiness, love, joy, tragedy, and a lot of pain. Mostly, I've been a background character; a mere footnote in the stories of everyone around me. That's going to change. It's my turn now.

It's my time.