When I grow up...

Last night during break a couple of my classmates were discussing american socialization (said classmates are both from Europe). The discussion was about american school children when asked "What do you want to be when you grow up?" respond with "a millionaire", rather than the age old "fireman" or "policeman".

So, I thought back on what it was that I wanted to be when I was a child. I didn't have a name for it, but what I wanted to be was my dad. I wanted to be old enough to go to the bar and get drunk whenever I wanted, and I didn't want to ever have to leave the ranch...unless it was to go get booze. I wanted to break horses, round up cattle, and fix fence and never have to deal with another soul. That was my dream for when I grew up.

But then we got foreclosed on when I was 13 and lost the ranch. And fortunately I got sober when I was 23. So I have had to re-think what it is I want to be when I grow up. It's taken a long while, but recently I've figured it out. In fact about 2 hours it came to me very clearly. I want to be me when I grow up.