23

There was a character I once liked very much who would make birthday resolutions instead of new year’s resolutions. This seems very reasonable to me. It is a new year, only for me (and the others born on the same day) it is somehow mine, a place to start over. I have been dreading turning 23, which is unlike me. However, something remarkable has happened. In spite of the dread and the full, perhaps over-full month or so that has led up to my birthday, I awoke yesterday with a bright sense of anticipation, the same sort of anticipation that you feel when you get to go to Disneyland, or tea at the Savoy, or, if you are of a certain persuasion, the midnight showing of Harry Potter. The sun was shining and beautiful and I felt that a certain amount of grace had been poured over the day.

In the evening, though I hadn’t wanted to make a big deal of my birthday, some of my friends and I went out for Indian food. There were moments, at dinner, where I was overwhelmed by the sweetness of the moment (as well as the delightfulness of the food). Sometimes, I look around and see the people that I am blessed to have in my life and am simply amazed. I am getting what I have prayed for and I am beside myself.

I am beginning to think that I am not going to mind being 23. The important things are still the same.