Birthday
My friend Phyllis in Dallas
recently sent me this photo from 20 years ago.
It was our first summer to live in Maine year-round and I was proudly showing
off both our tomato harvest and new kitchen cabinets. But I wasn’t quite all here in Maine-can you
see that my shirt is an abstract drawing of Big Tex
That photo brought tears to my eyes because as I stared at
it the passage of time really hit me over the head. (My husband kindly
commented You don’t look like that
anymore. Thanks, Bill!) But he is right…sometimes I look in the
mirror and hardly recognize my face. It’s more than just physical changes,
though. During the twenty years we’ve
been in Maine
a daughter has grown up and flown the coop, we have lived in three houses, made
many friends and also given up on some, painted lots of walls, grown many
gardens…in short, we have lived.
My 58th birthday was earlier this month and it
was especially celebratory. Yet at the same time I am aware that I’m
approaching the end of a pivotal decade in which I have seen the appearance of
many gray hairs, the draining effects of menopause, some intense soul-searching
and the loss of loved ones…as well as a sense of purpose, contentment and
happiness that I haven’t felt since the early days of raising our
daughter.
Shall we raise a toast to getting older?
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