One hour to go

"Alonso of Aragon was wont to say in commendation of age, that age appears to be best in four things, —- old wood best to burn, old wine to drink, old friends to trust, and old authors to read." Francis Bacon (from Wikiquote).

In less than an hour, I'll turn 40. Good times.

My mom used to be (rightfully) concerned that I was too interested in being older when I was young, 11 or 12 years old. I wanted to dive into my late teens and the associated risks were not a part of my view of how adults lived. Now that I'm older, I've been excited to reach 40. In my 30's, the last hour of which I'm savoring, I said over and over again how close I was to 40. Six years ago I was saying I was almost 40. I tease my friends about my ongoing enthusiasm for ageing, saying "You know what comes after 40? 50!"

A year or two ago, I thought of all of the people I could thank for their help in demonstrating how I could be a better person; Richie, Beth, Kachi, Richard, all of my friends in San Francisco - Pax, Andruid, Olive, Raisella, Miriam - folks at St. Martin De Porres soup kitchen... my friends now, sisters especially - Laura's example of a very sassy 40 leading the way. We're having a party tomorrow & though it's because of my birthday ostensibly, it's really for all of those folks who continue to show me the way, simply through being themselves.

I didn't get a chance to write out my thanks for Thanksgiving, but they are for all of those folks, named & unnamed. I'm lucky... I know that.