It’s my niece Tammy’s 21st birthday today (that’s her on the left, with her dad, Scott, on the right). Apparently, this makes her “legal.” Okay, I get that. It has to do with being of legal drinking age in the United States (interestingly, Chloe became “legal” in France last year and again became “legal” in Canada this year).

But this idea of becoming “legal” implies that at one point one could be illegal. That doesn’t seem so nice. I’ve had a brief Facebook exchange with Tammy today to try to determine what it means for her to have been “illegal” yesterday and “legal” today. Tammy said she’s not sure.

Maybe you can help.

Meanwhile, happy birthday, Tammy!