A year ago, I thought I knew what hard work was.

Since then, I have worked myself to utter, debilitating exhaustion, and have come to know that there will be many more days of such extreme.

A year ago, I thought I knew what patience was.

Since then, my contact with the world of people around me has tested my limits – and tested them again – and will continue to test them each and every day.

A year ago, I thought I knew where my home was.

Since then, I have come to an awakening realization that home is not a location, and it never has been. Instead, it is a feeling, and one that can be divined from many places and people.

A year ago, I thought I was invincible.

Since then, I have come to know that the only invincible thing about myself is my faith and my perseverance – and even those may waver on occasion.

A year ago, I thought I knew who my best friends were.

Since then, I have seen people pass in and out of my life, and back in and out again, and know that the truest friends are the ones you have no name or classification for.

A year ago, I thought I knew what true love was.

Since then, I have flown to new heights and found myself shattered like glass much harder and more severely than ever before, and I know that the childish ideal of love I held in my hands then does not really exist.

A year ago, I thought I knew what mattered most in my life.

Since then, I have come to see that life is a constantly changing variable, and tangible things have little value next to the things I cannot hold in my hands.

A year ago, I thought I knew who I was.

Since then, life has shown me that I am more complex than my own imaginings, and that I have only just begun to learn who I really am.

A year ago, I thought that I was young, and that life was long, with time enough for everything.

Since then, I have come to see that I am much older in mind and heart than I am in body, but even so, life is preciously short. Hours fly by quicker every year, and suddenly there are never enough hours in the day. But…There is never a wrong time to learn. There is never a wrong time to love. There is never a wrong time to live. In a year, I know not where I will be…but I do believe I shall never stop in my quest to be friendly, loving and happy.

October 7, 1999
Tamzen Marie Cecelia Baker