It was like yesterday when I turned 15 years old. It was the year of the in-betweenness. I was not a child anymore but not yet an adult either. Everything was still new, fresh and exciting, like the first sip of bubbly sugary cider or a glimpse of your sweetheart at school. So many first-times ahead, so many things to be experienced, such a wide future ahead. The whole adulthood felt like one big sweet, intoxicating dream, and I was so ready for it all.
This morning I was reminicing those days and thinking how many years had passed since that. My spontaneous answer was somewhat eight years, give or take. But no, my 15th birthday was 18 years ago! I cannot get my head around it – where has the time gone? I can’t comprehend that people born in 2000 are not in elementary school anymore, nor that my youngest sister is turning 30 next year. Let alone that I am 33 years old.
Time is moving forward at an ever-accelerating pace. Days are turning into years, and there is nothing I can do to stop that. And yet, I wouldn’t want to go back in time. I’m so grateful for everything I have at the moment, for my years abroad, for the sweetest boyfriend, for my family and friends, for me being brave enough to build a life on my own terms. Even this Corona spring and summer haven’t made me anxious. I don’t need to escape my life to abroad anymore. Being here, now, just at this very moment is perfect. The older I become, the more content I feel about myself, my choices, my looks, my lifestyle.
Brunch at Café Pispala
I celebrated my birthday by having an American-style brunch at Cafe Pispala. Pispala is a famous part of Tampere, an area once inhabited by poor factory workers and now being one of the most expensive parts of the town. You can find cute, old and sometimes weird-looking little wooden houses scattered along narrow alleys. I had visited Cafe Pispala before but still deliciousness of the pancakes caught me by surprise. They serve them with icing sugar, butter and bourbon syrup (you can add blueberries too), and the treat is as good and heavy as it sounds. After breakfast, you can burn off the calories by climbing on the notorious Pispala stairs up to the most beautiful viewing place.
And that’s all what a perfect birthday needs.
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