Two Baker's Dozens

Please don't think that I intend to keep you, the popsicle press peeps, in the dark about the happenings of my life. It's just that I had been in a bit of a funk and couldn't bring myself to whine and carry on and make you endure my downer-ness.

But as spring slowly emerges in Boston, so to am I beginning to come out of the gloom hibernation and become the happy flower of Jenna. Pretty fancy talkin' coming from me, huh?

In two days I gain another year on the calendar. Yes, dear friends, I am moving over to the other side of mid-twenties. On April 2 I will be 26 years old.

It seems so common and almost fashionable to bemoan the fact of getting older. I have fallen for it and have also poked fun at people for getting up there in age. But why? Age should be something to be proud of! This means that you have survived another year of the crap that life can throw at you. The biggest and most impressive trees on earth and hundreds of years old! We should be proud to get another ring around our trunks, so to speak.

I am damn proud of what I have done in my 25th year of life. I completed my second term of AmeriCorps, began a third and final term, moved across the country (all by myself!), survived going home for Christmas during the worst snow storm in 30 years, and have become more independent and grown-up than I ever have been before. If I continue growing as a person at this rate, I am going to be one kickass old lady. I only have to look at the incredible ladies of my family to know that I have a good shot at this. Ooo, if The Momma is reading this, I wasn't calling you and old lady, I swear.

As spring is seen as a time of growth and renewal, so to is it a chance for me to reflect on my own growth. The jenna you have today is flawed and scared by events that have transpired in her life. But this jenna is also beautiful because of and in spite of her failings.

So, here is to another ring on the trunk!