Hawke's Bay Today News Editor James Ford. PHOTO / File.
It is almost here. The day I was dreading.
My 30th birthday on October 20 is fast approaching.
Each day I've been waking up to posts on social media from friends bidding farewell to their twenties.
I'd react by looking at the calendar to count how many days it'd be before I was joining them. I felt bad for them.
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One last hurrah on a drunken night out. Too much alcohol, not enough sleep and a hangover that is considerably worse than a decade ago.
Self-reassurance then followed.
"Thirties are the new twenties."
"Here's to the best decade of my life."
Then, inevitably, acceptance.
That'll be me soon, I thought.
But a quiet few moments of reflection at the weekend changed my view of the impending big day.
I'm sure some of our readers of more advanced years will consider a 29-year-old reflecting on life as a bit rich. But, nevertheless, I did.
I quizzed myself as to whether I'd achieved what I'd hoped by the time the big three-oh arrived. Whether I'd travelled and experienced life enough.
I then came to the conclusion that it was what I was doing, at that moment, that I need to do more.
To think about memorable moments in my life, where I'd been, who I love and who I've lost.
Meeting my fiancée, having a son and moving to the Bay - it's not been a bad three decades in all.
Days have a habit of speeding by into weeks, which inevitably turn into months and rapidly into years.
Sometimes it's necessary to sit and enjoy your memories.
The House was suspended briefly after the haka disrupted voting.