On the occasion of turning 39

So, I'm sitting at Caribou Coffee in St. Paul, waiting for my wife to call to say it's time to come home. She's putting the kids to bed (although she should be done by now...)

OK, that was weird. She called, just as I was typing the above sentence. Freaky.

Anyway, so I'm now 39. My kids made a bit of a big deal about it being my birthday, because they get so excited when *they* have birthdays. And when I was little, I wanted it to be a big deal - I wanted lots of presents, I wanted to be the focus of attention. But I don't really want to have a big deal made of it; in the grand scheme of things, the gift-giving and singing and cake aren't all that significant.

However, it does make me think of a comment from Meister Eckhart:
"If the only prayer you ever said was, 'Thank you.' that would be enough."

And so, on this day, I find myself thinking mainly - "Thanks, Mom & Dad. Thanks for having me. I'm glad I'm here, and I hope I can make the world a little better for it."