Somehow I let the entire month of December go by without writing anything. My birthday has come and gone without reflection of how age is a gift to be embraced and not threatened by. Countless holiday celebrations without mention of how special this time of year is because it causes us to pause and appreciate the people and moments that surround us. No rants about materialism and commercialism taking center stage. Amazing, how did you people manage to muddle through without my deep retrospection on all of these things. More importantly how did I? Writing has been such a huge outlet for me this past year, and sharing it has…