Let me make this clear. I seldom feel old. I mean, I’m only almost 29 (young) and though it’s evident that I’m rounding out my twenties, I’m not viewing my thirties as the decade of doom. It’s really not a big deal.

But yesterday…

I was in a store, and Mos Def walked by. (Yasiin Bey)

Someone says, “Hey, that’s Mos Def!”

The girl next to this guy simply opened her mouth and said one thing that brought the world down around me. She single-handedly, mono-syllabically added grey to my hair, and crows feet to my eyes.

The girl said…”Who?”

…

I found out she was nineteen.

She was five when the Black Star album dropped.

I swear it made my damn back hurt.