My husband and I were born three weeks apart, and our plan had always been to throw a joint party for our 40th birthdays.

Born in 1966, I came of age at the dawn of a revolution. The past was gone we would move on and get over it!

Id always assumed that by 40 Id have at least a modicum of stability - a steady income, an established career, a bountiful fullness, like a pillow into which I could sink as I entered the second half of my life.

Photography forces one out into the world, interacting with people and the environment. It flexes all those right brain, spatially-adept muscles.

I am nothing if not rational about what is worthy of my anxiety and what is not, and I refuse to live my life as if a giant bus is just around the corner, waiting to crush me the minute I step off the curb.

It's 2013 ... The Time's obituary for Yvonne Brill, renowned rocket scientist, winner of the National Medal of Technology and Innovations, leads with, 'She made a mean beef stroganoff, followed her husband from job to job and took eight years off from work to raise three children. The world's best mom, her son Matthew said.