It's Always Day One Somewhere

Tomorrow morning, my daughters will start theater camp at the place where they've gone for the last bunch of summers, and my brother will start a new job at a place clear across the country from where he's worked for twenty-something years. As for me, I will be making the trek to Stamford that is not new anymore. But clearly, it is always Day One somewhere.
 
For a year, I experienced a lot of Day Ones. Day One at Bayou Billionaires, Day One at Deceived, first interview at one place, first interview at another (somehow, no matter how many interviews you have, each is like a Day One). It always seemed to be Day One somehow, heart in my throat, trying to appear much less "deer in the headlights" than I was.
 
So, while tomorrow will be just a normal day for me, I will be feeling for the Day One'rs. I remember the anxious feeling, the excitement mixed with dread, the eagerness for it to start but the desire for it to be over. And if this last year taught me anything, it was that in this day and age, you'd better start surviving Day Ones, because there are going to be an awful lot of them. Day Ones at the series of new jobs you start when you realize that jobs don't last forever any more. Day Ones when your kids start new grades and new schools and new activities, all of which (well, at least most of which) will be great once Day One is over.
 
Tomorrow, as I walk through my Day 76 (made up number--I just know it's more than 1 and less than 200), my heart will be in my throat for all the Day One'rs.  Because, while I know from experience that 1 very quickly becomes 76, I also know from experience that 1 can be the longest day of all. But, in the end, it just makes us more prepared for the next Day One we have to face.