So if I have gotten better in the interim years, and not merely saggier, what is it I have gained?

What can I do?

I am a mother, so I can lose an entire night’s sleep and count it as an ordinary thing.

I can write a book. I didn’t have the wherewithal to do that at 25.

I can fully recognize the bad and still embrace the good in the people around me.

I can persevere. I wasn’t sure of that when i was 25. I hadn’t had to persevere very long.

I understand people better now than I did then. I understand them in a broader, human nature kind of way.

I better understand the nature of the emergency.

I am better able to fix it, but a lot less sure that it is fixable