My birthday!

 

It seems as if birthdays come and go much more quickly than they once did. As a kid, we counted the days to our birthday! Would it ever arrive? And when asked about our age, we always said five and a half or almost seventeen! As if I would ever do that now! Kids are always fascinated by age. When I was at Hamilton, the students would always ask my age, and I always gave them a riddle to figure it out. “Younger than the statehood of Alaska, and older than than the Apollo 11 moon landing.”  That always confused them as they tried to figure it out and quit asking.

The twins, Faith and Noah, wanted to talk about my age every day when they were here. Noah was the sweet one, “You are just 20, right, Nannie?” Faith was not buying it and she was happy to blurt out my age wherever we went.

Age and time are such oddities. How does it happen and where does it go? I have no idea. {Sorry if you were looking for some kind of answer. I have none.) But this I know, I am more than grateful for each birthday, I cherish the day. Actually, I cherish the entire week. Well, why not?

The weather turned cooler last week on my birthday to a gorgeous 70 degrees which is a gardener’s paradise. I spent the entire day in my garden. Jonah came to mow and paint fence and actually bought me lunch from Sutton’s Deli! That, alone, was a perfect day for a gardener. Jonah came carrying a beautiful bouquet from their prairie.  By late afternoon, it was time to clean up and head over to Aaron and Rachel’s house for dinner and cake and singing and watching the sun set on their new prairie. I could actually just while my life sitting on their porch. However, that was not my birthday gift. I love it when we, as a family, can do things together. They had arranged Friday night at the TinCaps game complete with Jonah and Graham and their girlfriends. I was ready two hours early for that adventure. I love spending time with family, and this gift was a true gift. We all sat together, cheered together, and yes, I was so happy I cried. The evening ended with a win and a spectacular fireworks show at the stadium. How much more perfect can that be? Of course, I heard from my faraway children, Abe and Adam. They can’t fly up for every birthday!

There were lunches with friends, coffee at Caleo, a glass of wine at Cork and Barrel. Irene and April gifted me the coffee and wine. Living in a small, sweet town really is the best. Another friend, Teri, came for the weekend to explore our little town, visit with friends and accompany me with three other women to the Gaslight Theatre to see, “The Addams Family.”

If my grandmother were alive, she would say, “Lou Ann, you had a red-letter week.”  She would then get out the red dishes to honor my birthday. I have those red dishes in my Hoosier cabinet in the kitchen, and I remember her whenever I pull out those coveted red dishes. Of course, they were not just for birthdays, but for spelling bees or theatre productions or even losing a tooth! You always knew a celebration was on hand when you went to her house and the table was set with the red dishes! I am so glad I own those and can think about Grandma Luella.

When I work in the garden, I don’t play music or listen to podcasts. No, I let my mind wander as my thoughts dart from one subject to another. The birds keep me company as well the sounds of my neighborhood. This past week, on my birthday, I thought about the poet, Mary Oliver. She once wrote, “What is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” I thought about that a lot as I was weeding a flower bed. We really are gifted with one precious life. Do you ever think about that? Straight down from our ancestors, we are here and moments are not to be wasted.

How do I want to spend my precious life? Family, friends, community, students. I want to honor each day as T.C. Steele once said, “Every morning I take off my hat to the beauty of the world.”