www.dictionary.com defines the word lucky as 1. Having or attended by good luck, 2. Occurring by chance; fortuitous, 3. Believed to bring good luck. Many men have thought of luck as being fortunate in wealth and luxury. I believe I have a different kind of luck. I have luck in things like family and friends. I have always been surrounded by great people, no matter how hard life gets. Extraordinary people have been there for me at every turn of my life. Is this a gift or guidance? I don't care. I'm just grateful it happened.

The very last year of my teenage years draws near with every second, every minute, and every hour. I think that age is really just a glass door that we pass through, shut, and move on. We continue on the journey, and these doors follow us wherever we go, so that we can glance back and see the memories, the ups and the downs, the joy and the sorrow, whenever we wish. I have looked back over the years, looking through the glass doors, all eighteen of them. I marvel at how little I was and how amazing life really is.

Tomorrow at half past one in the afternoon I will pass through the nineteenth door and look back for the first of many times to come. Then I will look to the horizon to see what lies ahead, definitely not first time, but also not the last. Many people fear the unknown. I think that is one of the best parts of life, not knowing what is going to happen next. The unknown leaves a billions of possibilities for events to unfold.

I have had my picture taken every year since I was born and stored in the same frame. The present covers the past. If you were to take all of the pictures out, you could see the changes. From who I was and to who I am now. I think about the untaken photographs, the ones to come in the future...and I smile.