At 54 years, I began to notice changes happening in my body — quiet shifts at first, then ones that were impossible to ignore. And yet, I didn’t understand how they had started or why. I didn’t recognize that I had entered menopause, let alone midlife. I just knew something felt… different. Off. Turning 50 should have been a celebration, a milestone. But I couldn’t celebrate it. Life had other plans, and that moment passed me by quietly. In the years that followed, I found myself moving through life in a kind of daze. I watched my body change , my shape, my skin and felt mood swings, hormonal imbalances, and a heavy brain fog settled in. Still, I couldn’t name what was happening. I didn’t have the language for it. I just knew I didn’t feel like myself anymore. There were moments when I felt like I was living someone else’s life, wearing a body and emotions that didn’t belong to me. I felt confused, disconnected, and deeply unsettled. After carrying this quietly for some time, I finally spoke to my husband. I tried to explain what I was feeling the changes, the overwhelm, the fear. I asked him how much he knew about menopause, and how he could support me if neither of us truly understood what I was going through. That moment stands out so clearly. We looked at each other and realized… we were both lost. Neither of us had been prepared for this stage of life. No one had taught us what midlife could look like for women emotionally, physically, hormonally. So we made a decision together: we would learn we would educate ourselves. And the very first thing we did was something symbolic, yet deeply healing; we celebrated my 50th birthday… the day I turned 54. That acknowledgment closed a chapter that had been left unfinished. It allowed me to grieve what I had missed and step into what was still possible. From that moment on, I could finally accept the changes and the new development this chapter of my life was offering me. Around the same time, my body threw another curveball. I developed a food intolerance. Foods I had eaten and loved for years suddenly caused inflammation. My upper GI tract would feel constricted, and at times I experienced heart palpitations that terrified me. I was sent to the hospital for test after test. One day, after a particularly severe bout of headaches and endless medical checks, I saw the fear on my husband’s face. Later, he admitted something that still touches my heart he was genuinely afraid he was going to lose me.