TeamSax

"What did you want to be when you grew up?" A co-worker asked me yesterday. We had just left a meeting in which our team had been described as "data storage experts."

"Whatever it was, it wasn't a data storage expert. Or a file typing expert." Was my job as exciting as I'd believed before going into the meeting? Children probably wouldn't think so.

What was it I wanted to be when I was a kid? I couldn't remember. I have completely forgotten. There's no going back, I've grown up. I tried to think back to being 7 years old. I lost a tooth that year. I played with GI-Joes. I tried to remember being asked the question.

"What do you want to be when you grow up?" I can remember being asked this question by my grandmother. I remember the questions, but no matter how hard I try, my response is lost in the mist of time. This is a silly question to ask of a child, really. Now that I'm an adult, I know this as well as anyone else. Even if a child has an idea of what they want to do, things are likely to change so much by the time they are grown that their planned vocation doesn't even exist anymore. Or new jobs may be invented, and that may be more appealing. A child that dreams of being a doctor, may discover that being a nurse fills that desire far more than medical school ever would. So what's the point of asking? Curiosity maybe. Perhaps a gap in conversation. I think its a ploy to discover what kinds of gifts to buy to be a successful gift giver. If a kid wants to be a firefighter than you can get them a fire truck for Christmas.

Whatever the reason, nobody says "file typing expert." But I get to do some really cool work. I'm lucky enough to apply studies from school in my work. At least I'm still doing what I wanted to be doing as an undergrad. A lot of people can't even say that.

I wonder what my niece Caitlin will be when she grows up. Just a few short months ago, If you'd asked me who the strongest person I knew was, I would have said my dad. All it took was one handshake from his powerful forearms, and you'd be convinced of the same. But now I know that it's most definitely Caitlin. She doesn't have the anchor tattooed to her biceps, or any understanding of oncology or hematology. And yet I keep seeing smiling pictures. Could I have been that strong? I don't know.

No matter what she decides to "be" when she grows up, there's one thing she'll always be. What everyone really wants to be when they grow up, without consciousness enough to say so. It's OK to say veterinarian, or doctor, or astronaut. We all know what the real answer to the question is, if we're lucky, that is.

Q: What do you want to be when you grow up?

A: Loved.