I remember when I was 33 or 34, it was devastating because I realized I wasn’t a kid anymore. The great thing about 40 was that I really felt like I had life experience and knew what I was doing now.

Lopez contrasts two common milestones of adulthood: the mid-30s, when youth can no longer be taken for granted, and 40, when maturity can feel like an asset rather than a loss. The “devastating” realization signals a shift in identity—from being defined by potential and freshness to being defined by accumulated choices and consequences. By reframing 40 as a moment of competence (“life experience” and “knew what I was doing”), she presents aging as a gain in self-knowledge and agency. The quote functions as a small narrative of acceptance: grief for a vanished self-image gives way to confidence grounded in lived experience.