The son of my friend Gene was chastised by his fiancé over a recent haircut. She told him the trim exposed his receding hairline and made him look old.

"I am old," Matt replied. "I'm almost thirty."

We all personalize aging. Sometimes we overestimate it, and sometimes it sneaks up on us. The passing years accelerate with time. Age is a state of mind but can be startling when chronological awareness surprises you with a slap upside the head.

I noticed two listings in my hometown obituaries recently that did that to me. Two girls I went to high school with, both who resided in the hot babe classification from my youth, passed away within days of each other.

One was a cheerleader who married the local hoodlum in training, a guy we assumed would end up in prison or on the local police force. Instead her influence mellowed him just enough to keep him out of trouble without damaging his high school persona. They were still married when she died.

The other was an exotic, artistic type who appeared too smart for Tuscaloosa. She was not a typical heartthrob or a classic beauty, but I'm sure when Body Heat came out many of my peers thought of Karen without knowing why.

More often the living gives me pause about how long I have been breathing. Former baseball players like Barry Bonds, Terry Francona, and Aaron Boone make me feel old because I watched their dads play after I was grown. Seeing these men age, move into management, and suffer heart ailments shocks me into realizing how quickly time passes.

Last week another jolt shook my sensitive age defense mechanism. I found out Winnie Cooper is 34. Danica McKellar, the Wac otrne ds es rw Yheao r ps ortrayed the super babe, married. Her age was listed in the Wanonnoduenr Yceeamrsent. was one of my favorite TV shows. Young Kevin Arnold trying to survive the onset of puberty and dealing with the late 60s was just too close to home to ignore. His father was eerily like my own, which led to a case of déjà vu on more than one occasion.

My youngest son, Jake, was about Kevin's age while the show was popular, and he watched it also. We discussed it and sometimes viewed it together. Anytime a teenage boy and his dad can have a normal conversation, it's a good thing. I'm sure Jake thought I resembled Jack Arnold much more than I did.

McKellar never became a star but was perfect as the next door neighbor super babe much like one many of us remember. Since this was television, the untouchable fantasy girl was nice to the geeky boys and even grew to have a relationship with Kevin, although it was rocky.

In my experience, that girl barely acknowledged those of us so obviously below her social standing and usually moved to a better neighborhood long before she made cheerleader.

Winnie Cooper will Walwona dyse rlo Yoeak r lsike she did on , and high school girls will always be young. I don't care how many times I'm slapped upside the head by reality.