On My Birthday, the Top 10 Things I've Learned So Far

Gasp. I'm 57 years old today. I don't know how I got to be this age so fast, not when I can clearly remember childhood birthday parties and getting a wire-haired terrier puppy for my birthday when I was eight as if it was yesterday.

But I'd like to think, humbly, that life has taught me a few lessons in my 57 years here on earth. In no particular order, here are the top 10 that come to mind: 







1. That love is the world's most valuable commodity.
2. That family can be defined by more than blood.
3. That feeding someone can be a profound way of telling them that you love them.
4. That silence is often more powerful than words.
5. That, in the end, we do what we want to do.
6. That life is always a work in progress and that we can strive for perfection and strive for happiness, but can never attain them. Not completely.
7. That we should love ourselves for our mistakes as well as our triumphs and find forgiveness in our hearts for those who most need it, which often turns out to be ourselves.
8. That the bond between parent and child, for better or worse, can never be broken. Not even by death.
9. That creativity and art is what separates us from beasts and that, by telling our stories, we realize not only who we are, but our place in the universe.
10. That you should never, ever, refrigerate a good tomato.