People talk about age all the time, fearing it, or accepting it, but truly not understanding the experience of aging.

I found this site in 2007, I was new to the Internets because I had been busy with life, and just started my writing career, and I learned so much - so many things I had to re-think, and study.

I wish I'd had all y'all when my son passed on 11-9-02, I wish I'd been here on 9-11-01, but I wasn't - I was working 50-60 hour weeks.

I'm 53 today, still the same weird kid I was at 13yo, still the mess I was at 23yo, still the same struggling woman at 33yo, still the survivor at 43yo, and now I'm just the same as I ever was, struggling, odd, and weird at 53.

On a good note, I'm relatively healthy (on no prescriptions), my hair is still mostly blonde (even though I've wanted gray since I was 20), and I can walk without a limp despite the clubbed foot that every doctor I have seen wants to cut.

And the only advice I want to give is that we stay the same, personality wise, whatever we were born into continues, and young folks looking for age and wisdom don't understand that you are, and we are, the same as we ever were.

Happy birthday to me! Some turtles live a long, long time.