One more year.

Well, I've made it to 38.

Let me rephrase... most of me has made it to 38. :) And let me tell you, 37 was a hard fought year. I will never again bemoan a birthday (I may still bemoan a few gray hairs here and there but I'm only human.) I will very happily and gratefully take all of the birthdays that I can get. It's so hard to wrap your head around the fact that none of us are promised any more birthdays at all. It's something that I understand much more sharply now, and that seems to be the only way to learn it, because even after you lose people close to you, even young people, it still doesn't hit you, because you know, those things only happen to other people. It's human nature, this self-protection.

So - I will cherish this birthday and any and all others that I am so blessed with, and I will truly know what a gift they are - they are all the gift I need.