Each year, as the leaves begin to glow, my skin prickles. For many, autumn is a melancholy time–a reminder of the long sleepy winter pending on the horizon. It was once for me, too.

But now I anticipate Fall as much as springtime.

For me, autumn is not the end, it is the beginning. Two years ago, I experienced a re-awakening, a new birth. I started a new life, and I will never be the same.

In 2012, as the blistering heat of summer gave way to cool crispness,  I fell in love with my husband. A year that began in despair and brokenness ended with a new beginning.

My heart beats fast as I consider our first walks in the woods, with the smell of chimney smoke on the wind.

I swallow tears with memories of our first family trip to the pumpkin patch–now an annual tradition.

I feel the change in the air. I hear the crunch under our feet. I rake leaves into massive piles with my little helpers, and my heart is filled.

They’re little things, but they’re significant to me. They are my life.