When I was born I wanted to be outside the incubator.

When I was 1 I wanted a breast.

When I was 2 I wanted to take naps in my Nana’s arms.

When I was 3 I wanted a red wagon.

When I was 4 I wanted a father.

When I was 5 I wanted to visit the moon.

When I was 6 I wanted to watch more Johnny Quest.

When I was 7 I wanted the Vietnam War to get off of my television.

When I was 8 I wanted to be the fastest kid on my street.

When I was 9 I wanted to pilot a boat on the Jungle Cruise.

When I was 10 I wanted to be an oceanographer.

When I was 11 I wanted the girl to notice that I pitched a perfect game.

When I was 12 I wanted the world to stop spinning so fast.

When I was 13 I wanted us to move back to Florida.

When I was 14 I wanted to find out why people drank alcohol.

When I was 15 I wanted to skip past high school.

When I was 16 I wanted to understand The Metamorphosis.

When I was 17 I wanted to be a man.

When I was 18 I wanted to never go home again.

When I was 19 I wanted a Fiero.

When I was 20 I wanted another hit of acid thank you very much.

When I was 21 I wanted to have sex with every hot chick I met.

When I was 22 I wanted the fuck out of the Air Force.

When I was 23 I wanted to walk the earth like Caine in Kung Fu.

When I was 24 I wanted to be invisible.

When I was 25 I wanted to kill myself.

When I was 26 I wanted to wake up from a perpetual nightmare.

When I was 27 I wanted a tattoo that would never let me forget.

When I was 28 I wanted all of the happy people in AA to die.

When I was 29 I wanted to know more about God.

When I was 30 I wanted the girl I couldn’t have.

When I was 31 I wanted to never see snow again.

When I was 32 I wanted to finish college.

When I was 33 I wanted to live happily ever after.

When I was 34 I wanted into the ad agency world.

When I was 35 I wanted children.

When I was 36 I wanted out of the ad agency world.

When I was 37 I wanted to kill Islamic extremists.

When I was 38 I wanted my business to be successful NOW.

When I was 39 I wanted to take a crowbar to the guy who repossessed our minivan.

When I was 40 I wanted more strength than I was capable of.

When I was 41 I wanted to earn enough to give my wife the freedom to do anything.

When I was 42 I wanted to embed in our daughters a deep respect for their imagination.

When I was 43 I wanted to stop trying to control every little fucking thing.

When I was 44 I wanted to effectively exploit my talent.

When I was 45 I wanted to understand why I’ve been so blessed.

***

Jim Mitchem/@smashadv

Posted via email from 300 Words

Foursquare for Murder
A Daydream on a Daydream

Jim Mitchem

Writer. Father to daughters. Husband. Ad man. Raised by wolves. @jmitchem on twitter. First novel, Minor King, out now.

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