45 Things I’m Grateful For

It’s my 45th birthday, and I swear I have gotten my wish every year. Here’s what I’m grateful for.

On the morning of my 45th birthday, I woke up to coffee brewing, a run with friends, and a kid who made me an absurd drawing of the Mona Lisa except it’s an alpaca head instead of a woman. Plus, my best friend reminded me that my birthday this year (3–2–23) is a palindrome! This birthday feels like it’s hitting at a moment where I have so much, and so it feels right to reflect on all that I’m grateful for as I enter 45. Here’s the list of what I’m grateful for today:

1. I’m 46 days away from running the Boston Marathon.
2. I’m building a company I’m really proud of, with a team I adore.
3. My parents are both healthy and we get to see each other all the time.
4. I am healthy and injury-free.
5. My oldest daughter is genuinely hilarious.
6. I have an amazing running group that pushes me to do better and runs together often.
7. I have friends from many different chapters of my life with whom I’m still very close.
8. Books. So grateful for books.
9. I’ve lived in a lot of different cities.
10. I’ve traveled to a lot of different countries.
11. I studied abroad and it changed my life.
12. Cooking dinner with my kids.
13. Letting go (or getting better at it)
14. Family movie nights on the couch.
15. I’m getting ready for a big national parks trip with our family and I can’t wait.
16. I love my siblings and I love their spouses.
17. My youngest son is the most tenderhearted kid I know, and I believe he will do amazing things with that heart.
18. My husband is sure of who he is, and lives with extraordinary joy.
19. I have two beautiful godchildren whom I adore.
20. I’m in the strongest mental health shape of my life.
21. I’m getting better and better as a writer.
22. Spending the summer at my folks’ cabin in Minnesota.
23. Being a regular at a couple of restaurants in town.
24. Teachers.
25. My next door neighbor is my best friend and we get to have a glass of wine by the fire whenever we want.
26. My brother is talented and hilarious and his tweets make my day.
27. I am told “I love you” multiple times a day, by multiple people.
28. My dad comes and works with me one day a month and we drive around the city dropping off care packages for teachers and talk about all the things.
29. Today is my birthday AND New Notebook Day.
30. I live in a house I love to spend time in, and our family truly lives in every square inch of our home.
31. Counseling.
32. Microsoft Excel, the world’s greatest software.
33. My middle son is working through the challenges of middle school and building extraordinary resilience.
34. I love learning, and I’m so grateful that I love learning.
35. I feel safe in my home, my neighborhood, my city, and my job.
36. I can treat people to lunch or a show sometimes and I love doing that.
37. I am able to own the mistakes I’ve made.
38. My sister is a wise counselor and secretly hilarious person.
39. Lin Manuel Miranda’s entire catalogue. Grateful for all of it.
40. Building a company with a social mission.
41. The way it feels to run a speed workout.
42. My marriage.
43. Water skiing.
44. Laughing until I cry with friends I love.
45. Feeling seen and heard and understood and loved by the people around me.