I'm a weirdo who sheds the bad stuff as quickly as he can. I hate turmoil and I forget it quickly.
My teen years are a blur, but BYU won the national championship in football. That mattered to me as much as anything back then.
I didn't have a lot of friends in my high school, but I had a great group of friends that I met on electronic bulletin boards. I've never had a bigger group of friends than I did back then. Something fun was always happening or just around the corner.

Mission was fun. I met a lot of weirdos and I made sure that everyone who met me would consider me the weirdest of the weirdos. Those were fun days.

In my mid 20s, I got married for the first time. My first two sons were born and I was such a fun, young dad. Unfortunately, I've forgotten a lot of the details from my 20s. They went by so fast.

In my 30s, my career finally started to take off even if I had to start over again at the bottom in my mid 30s. By the time I was in my late 30s, I knew that finances would eventually not be much of a concern. That was a relief.
The best part of my 30s, however, was marrying my wife. I was beaten down so badly, but she stuck with me as I recovered as well as I could. Being a dad to two boys who didn't live with me full time was sometimes a struggle, but I loved that I had to work a little harder. It made me appreciate them more.
At the same time, my next 3 children were born. Having children in my home full time without needing to co-parent with someone who had worked to become my enemy was so easy.

In my 40s, personal financial worries evaporated. My income tripled from what it was when I was 30 and my wife's income had doubled. Child support was also finally gone.
After having 5 sons, my little daughter was born as was my first grandson in that same year. I also saw my second son turn into a responsible man. I had been so worried about him for so long. His teen years were so stressful. I was afraid he'd end up dead or in prison. He became a young father, met a girl who became his wife, and his whole life transformed. After years of being unable to talk to him without constantly worrying about sparking his violent temper, he's become one of my best friends. He sends me random texts almost daily to tell me news about the Eagles or his job or his daughter who was born in the last few months.
I still worry about him. He's the young father of two children and his finances are tight, but I'm also confident that he'll work it out. He's such a fighter. He's a guy who won't lose and that's comforting. I'm so proud of him.


So best, I don't know. Every decade has had its share of great. The tipping point will have to be time spent with my wife. I didn't have all my 30s with her, but I will have all of my 40s with her unless one of us croaks in the next 6 months. That makes 40s the best, but I expect my 50s to be even better.

Worst is hard to say too. I guess 20s, teens.