i am 31...

...and a rainbow sighting in Port Richmond on my birthday is probably the best possible way to start the next year of my life.

A few weeks after my 30th birthday--and just a very short time after Baxter and I broke up--I was living on caffeine, because I was too despondent and heartbroken to actually eat food.  On what might have been my tenth trip to the kitchen  near my desk at work, I encountered a woman I had never seen before.  She was in desperate need of a Band-Aid.  I tore apart several first aid kits, finally finding the tiniest bandage for her (among a deluge of most useless items, like a huge pair of plastic tweezers and oddly large assortment of thermal foil blankets--lest we found ourselves amidst a vicious nuclear winter, perhaps following a devastating financial meeting of some sort). 

As if rewarding my kindness, she proceeded to say something wonderful to me, "Being in your thirties is the best thing that will ever happen to you.  Suddenly you realize how valuable you are.  You know all of the great things about yourself.   And you will never settle for anyone treating anything less than what you deserve."

This statement blew my mind.  I've been keeping it tucked away in a little pocket behind my ear for the last year.  And I have to say, it is the most truthful, most powerful wisdom anyone has shared with me.  I feel like I woke up one day when I was approximately 30.05 years old...and for the first time ever, I realized all of my power.  

With time comes wisdom.  

With wisdom comes confidence.

And with confidence comes an array of gifts: Ambition.  Success.  Friends.   Love.  Happiness.  

Two of my good friends turned 30 this year...and I know that everything is about to become really, really great for them.

P.S.  One more exciting thing about being in my 30s:  I have a lot of affection for the number 3.  It's always been my favorite number (if you recall, I invented personalities for all of the single digit numbers back in kindergarten when I first learned to count).  When I met Dylan's father Ryan, I had a very good feeling about him because he was wearing a shirt with the number 13 on the back AND his house number as 3303.  Even now it seems amazing to me.  

I've met one other person with this same love for 3...and this individual is fairly magical, too.