28

i just celebrated my 28th birthday, which was nothing short of heart-warming. lunch with friends, a hike with my boys, dinner date with g, and finished off with a small gathering at home. i've always loved celebrating birthdays - not just for the parties, cake, and festive hoopla, but more for the attention paid to their significance.

another year lived. another year to live.

twenty-seven was an important year: the year i married the man of my life. it was the year i became a wife, and in so doing, welcomed a world of possibilities with a partner in hand. i never want to look forward to a year without considering and meditating on the year prior. without the challenges and victories of twenty-seven, i wouldn't even know how to ease into twenty-eight.

do i feel different? wiser? well, sure, of course. i am twenty-eight years of growth and transformation. i am twenty-eight years of being a daughter and a friend. i'm still learning how to be a student and teacher, a partner and a wife.

my college self predicted at 28 i would be married and either have a baby in my arms or be pregnant with one. although college self knew everything about the world and could map out her entire life (because apparently we just know it all), i am thrilled that my twenty-eight self learned that life is better unknown, it is actually better than i could have ever imagined. as this 28th year is full of uncertainties, i find tremendous peace in its truths. and the truth is, i am loved.