Five

The indication of a job well done; the number of cards in hand of poker; or the number between one and ten. Often used as a measure of incremental changes, the number five serves many purposes. It’s a nice round number, even though it’s not a round number and maybe the reason some have called it the human number. Their explanation goes like this: seven is the number of God, perfection. Six is the number of Satan: imperfection. So that leaves five for humans: far from perfection. 

To me, it’s a lucky number. But it didn’t begin that way. My relationship with the number began during the fifth grade. I reluctantly accepted my number five jersey, the only one left in my size. I wanted twenty-three like Michael Jordan. But five. Who was number five? But after thinking over the number a little more, I was able to come to grips with it.

Sitting at home with my jersey draped over my knees, my OCD tendencies were able to justify my sense of approval. If Michael Jordan was 23, my 5 was just the more compact version: 2+3.