They Say It's Your Birthday

Dear Mom,

Happy Birthday! If I was with you now, I'd make some raspberry-chocolate thing for dessert, maybe a gooey, flour-less cake, or maybe we'd put candles in a box of truffles. Though it would have to be a big box to accommodate all those candles!

We'd have a lazy day, maybe work on a puzzle or go for a drive. Definitely play a hand or two of cribbage. Watch the birds at your feeders. Later in the afternoon, after our rest, we could drive to Starbucks for a Mocha pick-me-up to get us through whatever movie we decided to watch that night.

Dinner would be whatever you wanted: popcorn: Chinese take-out, Alfredo or pesto pasta, lobster.

Before we went to bed, at some point during the day, I'd tell you how much I love you. How happy I am that you are my mother. How sorry I am for any times I have hurt you or disappointed you, and that I never do mean to hurt or disappoint you. I would remind you how strong you are, and how strong you always have been. And how wise.

I would tell you how glad I am that you were born, how proud I am to call you Mom, to call you friend.

Love,

Always,

Your Number 1

Birth Day

Celebrate!

Promises of cake

& candles

light this morn

flush with spring rain & lilac;

a lone tree frog sings.

(a shadorma to celebrate--why not?)

Peace...

What a Wonderful World

Today I officially reach 'midlife'. It amazes me fifty years have passed--it seems only yesterday I graduate from college and left the nest, striking out on my own.

Time is sneaky that way.

But what a ride. What a beautiful, joyous journey, even with the bumps and bruises and people who told me no. Any pain dealt along the way has made me stronger and, I would like to think, able to live with greater grace. Those who have tested me have pushed me harder and to limits I was unaware and, in turn, made me reflect on my own actions and words.

Although my body creaks and aches, my innards have never felt more in their skin. Every year gets better, and every day seems more rife with possibility than the one before.

Today, along with coconut cake and moscato d' asti, I count my blessings: my husband and children, my family, my friends virtual and cyber, my colleagues and students, alive and dead. Thank you.

I give gratitude for a job that challenges and inspires me, for the gift of writing, for a secure home and a beautiful garden.

I give thanks for all that is yet to come, the good, the bad, the changes that challenge, for all that is life. What a wonderful world, what a wonderful life. Peace...