Yesterday might have been the best birthday I've had in years . . . and I always love my birthday. It wasn't an exciting, event-filled day, and I had to make my own birthday dinner because everyone else had to go to work. But all day long I felt like I was floating in a bubble of affection. My boys were smiling and cheerful. My sister and my parents and my in-laws all phoned. Messages from friends and family kept pouring in. Mid-morning, a bouquet of flowers arrived--a gift from my parents. And in the late afternoon a little rainstorm poured down its gifts.

So today, after a deep and dreamless sleep, I woke up feeling strong and capable, buttressed by all of you, ready to step forward into my work day, ready to learn how to be 56 years old at the tail end of this year of dread.