My prediction for the best year of your life.

I’m lucky to have my very own Yogi Berra. His name is Baden and he is one of my dearest friends from childhood.

He has a knack for coming out with turns of phrase that I personally find very funny. 

He once asked me if I’d ‘tried that new Jamie Olive Oil recipe’. Another time, when I was teasing him as he fastidiously tidied his apartment, he exclaimed, ‘I know, I think I’m coming down with a case of AC/DC!’ 

But beyond the laughs, sometimes there is magic in his words. Like maybe actual magic. On his eighteenth birthday, we were five days into a kayak on a remote river in the Australian outback when he yelled to the sky, ‘I need a beer on my birthday!’. We were a hundred miles from a bar and hadn’t seen another soul the whole trip. But lo and behold, two hours later, a full, perfect can of beer floated down the river. We fished it out, paddled to the shore, cracked it open, sang him happy birthday, and shared a few sips each. 

Another night, when we were walking home from a nightclub in Greece celebrating both of our 30th birthdays, he said: 

‘every year is the best year of your life.’ 

And its stuck with me ever since.  

Now, I know that we all have tough years. I certainly have. But looking back I also see growth in them just as much as I see joy in the euphoric ones.

Today is my birthday—I’m turning 41. I woke up well slept. My two young boys, wild-haired and sleepy, hugged me as they emerged from their room. So did my beautiful wife. The Stevie Wonder birthday song played. I drove out to the bakery to buy four pistachio pastries for us all. We are going to go for a swim soon, and later today, we will go out for a drink at our favorite place. 

I have the sneaking suspicion that this year may yet be the best year of my life. When your birthday swings around, I wish the same for you.