You know how the saying ends.

And now, prepare yourself for the photos to prove it.

I’ve had the recent experience of going through memorabilia from my childhood and realizing that this person I am now who collects things is the person I’ve always been. I still collect some thing-things, but all the tallies I keep are proof to myself that I collect less-thingy things as well, like deer sightings, meals eaten at Tandem, waterski sessions, and a log of all the letters I’ve written to friends since 2015.

“Many new things will happen this year” says the fortune cookie or the Dove chocolate wrapper or the blog post I’m writing.

Some things are ending for me, some things are beginning, and some have just rolled over into this new year without any disconnect.

I have half of being 44 behind me, and half ahead of me (today’s my half-birthday). So today is a day right in the middle, a day to talk about what is behind and what is ahead.

You don’t always get the things you want in life, but sometimes you do, and when that happens, you can thank God, or your lucky stars, or Warby Parker.

The story I’m about to tell is one I treasured in my heart for months after it happened because I’m learning how good it can be to hold on to something as mine for a time.

When I die, I’d like to have my commonplace books buried with me unless any of my kids wants to keep them. I don’t want them to go into uncaring hands because these words are my very life.