Día de Reyes

Twenty years ago today, my brother and sister-in-law got married in a lovely, ancient church in Old San Juan and then we all walked to a nearby restaurant to celebrate. Even though I'm big on dates when I teach literature (they provide the context, I insist to my students, for them to understand the texts better), I don't actually remember dates much in my own life or "know" most of my life through dates.

My brother's wedding I do remember vividly, though, and can wonder at, and be grateful for, how far we've all come since then, in mostly very good ways. True, we may not be as thin or as young or as full of youth's potential, but we are all now more settled and more self-knowing and, I believe, happier in a more mature, if less ecstasy v. misery, scale.

So much has happened in those twenty years that I hardly recognize myself. But that's one thing I appreciated most about life: that, as long as you're alive and healthy, each day provides an opportunity for change, for leaving what we don't like about ourselves or others behind, for making a brand new start. Every day that dawns gives us a chance to make a difference in our own lives and those of others.

On this Three Kings Day, which is also my brother's and sister-in-law's anniversary, I celebrate the wonderful difference they make every day on the lives of their three luminous children, in the lives of our and her family, and in the lives of every one they come across with. God knew what he was doing when he put those two together.

For our part, today is the day that my husband took "Our House in Winter" photograph, and even though I dislike January most of any month of the year, our home looks beaming and welcoming against the stark black and white landscape. Like the promise of sunshine once the dark clouds roll by.

Much has changed in these past twenty years. That's absolutely true. But of all the 48 years of my life, it is now, in this present moment, that I am at my best, my happiest, my most fulfilled. For that I am deeply, humbly, eternally thankful.

On this Three Kings Day, gratitude is the greatest gift I have to offer.