"Anybody that knows them, just by watching them, can see he's totally smitten with her," Hill's pal Gaye Knight says of McGraw (with the girls in 2002). Photo by: courtesy tim mcgraw
A New Faith| Faith Hill, Tim McGraw
It's her bond with her husband that, by all accounts, keeps Hill on course. The birthday extravaganza he planned for her was, she says, "a dream." Of course, life is not always a fairy tale. "We never have to work to be in love," says Hill. "But sometimes we don't get along and we have to have time apart." Yet one look at them dancing at a Greek disco until 5:30 a.m. on her birthday makes it clear that, as McBride says, "there's definitely still a spark."

More than ever, Hill savors life's firefly moments. While on tour, she and Audrey were sitting on the bus late one night, and out of the blue, the 5-year-old said, "Mom, I'm going to know how much I love you even after I die," recalls Hill. "Tears started rolling down my face and I was like, 'Does she know something I don't?' It was so powerful. Forget about all my other problems. They are meaningless."

It is a perspective Hill is determined to keep, though she admits she has to work at keeping thoughts of the CMA debacle at bay; if not, she says, "It would destroy me. I would lose all confidence in everything I do for a living." She does not see that happening. "I have this strength that comes from knowledge," says Hill. Yes, there are moments that give her pause – like when she looks in a mirror and says, "Oh my gosh, I have a lot of wrinkles. It's mostly laugh lines, but it is what it is. And sometimes I see a young, beautiful girl and I think, 'Ouch!' "

Still, she isn't contemplating plastic surgery ("I can't say never, but I'm kind of a naturalist," she explains), and she wouldn't give back her years for anything. "It's not complicated to embrace life. You just have to make the choice," she says. "I don't want to sound like a Hallmark card, but to be able to wake up each day with food and shelter, that alone is good. Forget aging and the fact that my butt is becoming a little more familiar with my knees than my tailbone. If you are six feet above ground it's a good day," Hill says. "So give me more!"