I am a first born, the first of five daughters in a family that was looking for sons. My birthright is a lifetime of firsts – the first in my family to go to school, the first to have to explain Halloween and marijuana (among many, many other things) to my immigrant parents, the first to kiss, the first to marry, the first to conceive, the first to have a cesarean to deliver the first grandchild, and I imagine, the first of my siblings to die.

At 42, I have 39.58 years left to live, according to the life expectancy tables actuaries use when calculating how much to charge you for life insurance. So if my life was a week, this would be Wednesday! Forgive me if I sound panicked, it’s because I am. I’m cursing myself for checking the actuarial tables, because I had thought, albeit ignorantly, that at 42, I had another 42 years to go, since I seem to be having a mid-life crisis of late. But by checking these tables, I’ve lost nearly 2.5 years of time to do very important stuff! I’m not ready to go yet! I’m too young to die!

OK deep breath. Let’s not be the first in my family to have a nervous breakdown!

If my life were a year, this would be July. One of my favorite months, second only to August! So, I think I’ll take that to mean that many, many, many good times lie ahead and I can while away the days sun-tanning if I want to or I can write out my bucket list and tackle them one by one.

My Bucket List:
– Write a fabulous book that I’m proud of
– ??
– ??

Hmm, I’ll add to the list as more things strike me, but it’s amazing the clarity a deadline gives you 🙂

Love Lucie