On the eve of my dog's 9th birthday

Pups become old dogs

and grandpa's forget your name

while you're standing still. 

It is strange how people seem to only notice their own growth by noticing the growth of surrounding them: "You're making me feel old."

Do people really not realize that ten years have passed until they see an old college buddy's ten-year-old daughter? Does a teacher not realize that a song isn't popular until she references it in class and is echoed with silence? It is as if we are completely oblivious to our own passing age without seeing someone else's passing age. What is age when it isn't measured next to something else? After all, our years are only meaningful when measured by the movement of the Earth. 

Maybe age really is just a number.