Today is Gmail’s sixth birthday! To celebrate, CNN looks at “Six Ways Gmail Revolutionized Email,” an interesting read to be sure.

Personally, I was leery about Gmail from the get-go. Remember when you had to be “invited” to open an account! “No thanks,” I said, turning my nose up at what I perceived to be elitist, exclusionary tactics. “I’ll stick with Hotmail – it might have a fraction of the storage, primitive organization and none of the cool features, but it’s for the people!”

As a recent convert to “Gangsta Mail,” I can now look back and see what a complete dummy I was. I love Gmail with an abiding fondness that was once reserved only for very small puppies, Vin Scully and finding money in my jacket pockets. So thanks, Gmail! May you live long and your gigabytes be plentiful.