A mani/pedi combo defines luxury for me. And even though the color and perfection of my nails will be do me no good this time next week (remember the hiking/camping portion of the trip?), I went for it. Plus, I had a birthday gift certificate from a very generous friend.
While I was relaxing with my feet in the bubbly pool of warm water, thanking my friend for knowing THIS was just what I needed AND thanking the universe for giving me a FRIEND who knows THIS is just what I needed, I realized that I wouldn’t be able to let my birthday go just yet.
Besides posting my toes, there are a few special things I want to pass along—acts of kindness towards me on my birthday that deserve a little shout out.
I want to remember Adrienne’s gifts: how she went around the house and collected things that I already own and wrapped them up. She said, “Sometimes it’s fun to see your old stuff as new stuff.” I like that she is so effortlessly profound about a bar of soap from Pier One circa 2007, a mini notebook (already noted on several pages), a painted frame she gave me last year for Mother’s Day AND my 42nd birthday, and a Ziploc of gummi bears.
But then there was the note that she gave me that reminded me how she’s also effortlessly kind. She wrote me a happy birthday greeting and then had HER WHOLE 3rd GRADE CLASS sign too.
I want to remember the “Adopt-a-Pilot” assignment that Andrew did earlier in the year that just happened, on my birthday, to show up in his school “mail” (his homework and other class assignments from the previous week). Andrew was asked to identify a person in his life that reminds him of airline pilot and why. He wrote about ME!! Yes, me, his mom. Why? He said I’m fearless. (Really? Me?) At first, I thought my 11 year old was plugging easy information into a boring and random question but his answer made me cry and feel proud of him (and me!).
Andrew wrote that I am fearless because of the small things that I do in my everyday life that make other people nervous—like talking in front of a class every day. He said that even though I am old (HA!!!) that I try things like rock climbing and canoeing even if I know that I won’t be good at them.
But he really got me when he wrote this: “She cried at a public reading of one of her essays. She cried in front of all these people and I thought she would be embarrassed. At bedtime she told me she was embarrassed but got over it because her crying was a true feeling. She told me that telling the truth is important. She always tells the truth and so most of all, that makes my mom fearless.”
I’m crying right now trying to finish this post. Isn’t that the most beautiful gift a mom could ever get? But there was more…
I want to remember that Robin called me—actually rang me up on my home phone (!!!) to say happy birthday. I sat in the living room talking and laughing like a teenager with a best friend. It was priceless and thoughtful and serendipitous all in one!
I want to remember that I got over 100 well wishes on Facebook. And I know that happens to lots of people of their birthdays too. But I especially loved the way my wall of messages listed out the names of friends past and present, from my childhood friends to students I had in class last semester. There’s a THIS IS YOUR LIFE feeling to seeing so many names and corresponding little pics, popping up in no particular order to say “Happy Birthday.” It made me feel popular and loved and more a part of the world than I feel on a regular old day.
A huge HUG and a huge THANK YOU to the entire universe for making the first day of my 43rd year SO AWESOME!!
And now, I promise, my birthday is over and I’ll move on.
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