A few weeks in, I received an email from a long-time friend who had just checked out the blog.

“Oh, I get it!” she wrote. “You’re doing 52 things because this year you’re turning 52 on 5/2.”

Whoa.

Hand to God, I had not put this together.

My birthday is indeed today*, May 2nd, 5/2, and it is with much gratitude that I am celebrating my 52nd anniversary on Earth. But when I started this whole #nudge thing, the only thought I had in mind was to run it for 52 weeks, or one full year.

As I mulled over this fun bit of serendipity, I started to think about the “magic” numbers I’ve had in my life. Forty-six has always been a big one. My paternal grandfather passed away unexpectedly at that age, and every time a member of my family passes this milestone, I let out a sigh of relief while thinking about all the bonus years I have enjoyed. For many years, 17 was the biggie, marking the number of spinal taps I’ve had (long story) and the number of times I’ve been in a wedding party. (I’ve since exceeded 17 for both of those, and I’ve stopped counting.)

For fun, I googled “52” and was reminded it’s the number of playing cards in a deck and the number of white keys on a piano. If you count both caps and lowercase, it’s the number of letters in our alphabet. In combinatorial mathematics, 2, 5, and 52 are all Bell Numbers (don’t ask me to explain that one), and all three numbers are untouchable numbers (and my head is spinning). It’s written “LII” in Roman numerals.

So what’s up with 52? As I look back on past generations, it seems to be an age when women were “done”. They had finished raising families and were settling into the role of grandmother, had retired from any work outside the home, were generally considered “old”, and had given up pursuing new dreams. I can’t wrap my head around any of that. I feel like I’m just getting warmed up!

Anyway, I’m thinking 52 is my new magic number. And I’m thinking I need to pop out and pick up a lottery ticket. Guess which numbers I’ll be playing? 😉

*I share this birthday with Catherine the Great of Russia, David Beckham, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, and Princess Charlotte of England, by the way. I am kinda proud to be a member of this cool club.