My 46th Birthday Reflection

It’s my birthday week and I’m in Florida celebrating with my family, so this week it's a sweet and simple note.

I turned 46! 🎉 🥳 🪅

I love to declare how old I am. It breaks out of the old adage that women of a certain age should hide their age (one of my beloved abueltias (grandmothers) did this; we still honestly aren’t sure of how old she was when she died).

Whenever I arrive in Tampa, my heart aches a little for my old life here– my school days from high school to college, the work I did, the friends I had, the way I related to the world. How my whole nuclear family could just get together at my mom’s for dinner on a random Sunday night (now we’re all scattered across the US). Even the idea that my grandparents were still alive and well when I lived here.

Of course, I don't really want to go back. I marvel at how much I've learned the past thirteen years since I left.

Celebrating with family at the beach on my bday. St. Pete Beach, FL

I was telling one of my sisters that it’s only maybe in the last decade that I feel like I understand how much we need to appreciate what we love about our life as it is now, because it will change.

Sometimes remembering that things WILL change when you’re in the middle of hard times can be a balm too. Everything is always changing.

46 is as close to 66 as it is to 26. Both feel a world away!

Getting old is a privilege— and it’s also really hard. Change is inevitable, and we all march towards the end. How can we find the celebration of THIS life stage?

I practice being present as much as possible to soak in this time of my life, including time with my siblings, parents, friends, and my partner. Connecting with those I love is where I thrive.

I hope you’re finding what lights you up during this midlife time of transition.

As I treasure and mourn the life experiences behind me, I look forward to gathering up more joy, grief, love, frustration, expansion and everything in between in the experiences I’m blessed to have ahead of me.