“Every birthday is a gift. Every day is a gift.” — Aretha Franklin A friend jokingly refers to the first week of August as my “birthday week” because I usually take full advantage of the opportunities to celebrate. This time around, however, I’m feeling a bit less celebratory and a lot more reflective. My driver’s license proves that I’ve landed on one of those milestone birthdays — the kind that inspires black balloons from the party store and bad jokes about seniority. For the past two years, I’ve facilitated a monthly workshop/discussion group titled “Aging with Grace & Courage” at a local library. Thanks to this group of thoughtful women,…