Don’t tellurium your age

In an essay about growing old, Oliver Sacks compares an age to the elements.

Elements and birthdays have been intertwined for me since boyhood, when I learned about atomic numbers. At 11, I could say “I am sodium” (Element 11), and now at 79, I am gold.

Oliver Sacks on Gratitude, the Measure of Living, and the Dignity of Dying