The World Cup Is the Best Way to Gauge How Old You’re Getting

Every four years, it’s a new memory.

One of my most vivid sports memories involves Uruguay’s 2–1 win over England in the 2014 World Cup. This is widely considered one of the most crushing losses in England World Cup history, but that’s not why I remember it. I remember it because it happened on June 19, 2014, and I was watching it the literal second my younger son Wynn was born. We induced my wife’s labor, so the doctor came in the room right as Luis Suarez scored his second goal to secure the loss for the Three Lions. I will never forget seeing that goal roughly 75 seconds before I saw my son for the first time.

Wasn’t he cute?

That was eight years ago — eight-and-a-half, actually, because the World Cup is in Qatar this year, which is too hot to play soccer games in June. (Mercifully, for myriad reasons, this will be the last time they play the World Cup in the winter.) Wynn is a lot older now. Eight-and-a-half years, in fact.