49

Herself speaks.

Today is my 49th birthday. 

It seems inconceivable, somehow, that I have been on this planet for so very long. And yet, is seems ever so brief sometimes. I still think of myself as being approximately twenty-four or twenty-five years old. Am I the same as I was, half a lifetime ago? No. 

I am infinitely richer, because of the people along my path. And I am grateful for them.

A birthday is a good time to try to turn over a new leaf, to make some resolutions. This year, I do something slightly different: instead of wishing for things for others when I blow out my birthday candles (as I usually do), today, I wish for myself: that I may find and do what brings me joy; that I may take better care of myself, and learn to be a better person, a little bit each day; and that I may appreciate all of the small moments with my Important People, because life is, ultimately, a tremendous series of small moments. 

And so begins another journey around the sun.