I just returned from five weeks of traveling in the U.S. and Europe. I must say that I am happy to be home. I suppose “home” to me means anywhere I am living/working and have created a sanctuary for the husband, the pets and myself. And, I look forward to attempting to sit still for awhile now and seizing moments (not just appreciating them but seizing them to me and living…).
While I was in the U.S., I attended my 30th high school reunion in Appleton, Wisconsin. I am happy I went as I reunited with old friends, remembered some beautiful smiles of young ladies grown into special women, exorcized some demons, and recalled some bittersweet yet beautiful moments of first love along the Fox River. Been there, done that, and now celebrating my 48th birthday halfway around the world.
During this trip, a dear friend also told me that she loathes her mid-50s birthdays but I disagee. With all the suffering, pain, poverty and fear that exists in the world today, I believe that all of us with any degree of affluence and good health should feel utterly grateful for all the blessings in our lives every single day, and these blessings should be appreciated and celebrated (and we should try to make a positive difference in our world every day as well…even a small gesture can change someone’s life…).
On that note, time for some champagne and sharing with you a wee piece from my book about birthdays, hometowns and appreciating life:
Autumn Butterflies Flutter By
My birthday falls at the end of August. This means that, as a child, the approach of my birthday also meant the beginning of a new school year. At the same time my mother was picking out my birthday present, we would also be out buying new clothes and school supplies. I always looked forward to my birthday, and still do (which in terms of birthday gifts from my husband extends from June through to the end of December), but I always carried that hole-in-the-gut feeling that the day after my birthday meant that anti-climatic cycle of dread as the first day of school closed in on me. Bittersweet. The same feeling we adults get at the end of a carefree vacation as we consciously build up the energy and motivation to go back to work. It’s the very same gut-wrenching angst that brings back waves of nostalgia as we pack our suitcase, absorb one last look of paradise over our shoulders as we board the plane, take a deep breath, and morph back into adulthood. Even today, living in Asia, when the wind blows a certain way at the end of summer, I automatically get butterflies in my stomach from the memories of an approaching birthday and the start of autumn. It no longer means my first day back as school, but more like the realization that yet another year has flown by. I still often feel like the little redhead I remember, and I hope those autumn butterflies never go away.
Happy Birthday everyone!
p.s. Starting to plan my 50th bday parties in Kuala Lumpur and the Maldives, enshallah (stay tuned for details later in 2010 for August 2011!). Hope you can join us!