On Turning 56

"We turn not older with years but newer every day." Emily Dickinson

On Saturday, I turned fifty-six.

I made it around the sun one more time. So often, in our culture, we try to escape aging. Ads often promote and tout their age defying properties. Why? I am comprised of all the years, and I am still myself at every age. I don't want to deny or defy that, I want to own that. Each one is a gift and a blessing, no matter h…