This afternoon, my family and I went into the city to run some errands. We went to the dentist, stopped off at the mall (got the last Mysterious Benedict Society book, and the last in the Inheritance series. Eep!) and eventually went to Costco for a quick lunch.

I'd been feeling pretty rotten that day (for no particular reason). The huge, huge crowd of people in the store didn't improve my mood at all. I detest crowds. They make me irritable, overwhelmed, nervous and awkward.

Once we got sitting down eating, I did feel a bit better, but I still felt unpleasant. After a few minutes eating, I noticed a little girl and her mother looking at us, at a table across from us. Eventually, Mariana noticed them, and started saying hello in her own private language, and the woman smiled and waved back.

"Hello," she said. My mother said hello back. We all smiled politely, and continued eating. My mother started chatting with the lady, asking how old the little girl was, what her name was, making small talk. "My daughter was just saying how lucky you are," the lady said to us children. "To have so many brothers and sisters." We smiled and nodded, and my mother agreed that yes, we were all very blessed.

I don't believe in luck. But I do believe in blessings. And yes, I believe that my family is very blessed. Most of the only children I talk to tell me how jealous they are, or how lucky I am, and that they wished they had a brother or sister. Sometimes, I tell them that no, I wished I was an only child. And in truth, right now, I regret saying that. I am so happy to have so many siblings. They are my best friends, my confidante's and my companions. They know me in a way that no one else will.

So yes, I am very blessed. And I hope that one day, that little girl will be as blessed.