A Little Birthday Post...

I set my feet on the path to fifty eight this week. Fifty eight. Wow. Those things that you hear older folks saying "but I'm still sixteen inside here" turns out to be true, sort of. I am the person with the long term memory in my circle, I can tell you anything you want to know about times long ago (but don't ask me about last week!)

I carry mental snapshots of cutoff jeans, halter tops and hot sultry days in the Florida sunshine walking to the beach with my girlfriends. I can describe to you the way the white soft powdery shell rock streets of my youth felt like beneath my bare feet. A mental photo book of my babies that comes with the sweet smell of the top of their head, as I nestled them in my arms rocking them to sleep. I still recall the sights and smells of the third world cities I've visited and the faces of the people I saw there. So many were smiling, laughing in the face of such poverty. The lush green, unlike anything I've ever seen, of the terraced hillsides in Thailand as we traveled to stay in a Mung village, where some of the people still wore their colorful native garb. The sound of the wind like I've never heard it before or since, when I stood on a cliff called "South Point" on the big Island of my beloved Hawaii and looked out as far as the eye could see on the Pacific Ocean.

…beauty peeks her head around the corner, bringing with her a whole new chapter, dispelling the shadow of despair.

My life has been full and glorious. I can honestly say that the beauty and miracles far out weigh any negative experiences. There have been "things" for sure, but even in heartache, beauty peeks her head around the darkest corner, bringing with her a whole new chapter, dispelling the shadow of despair.  My heart aches at the memory of those who are gone from me, but then I recall a moment spent with them or the loveliness of their faces in my minds eye and sweetness fills that spot.

I write to you this morning with a heart filled with gratitude at the wonder and miracle of life. I open the door and look outside at the beauty of my garden, with the sun shining on my face, I take my first step out the door and on to the path that leads to fifty eight.   

those same girls I used to walk to the beach with..

My sweet little boy long ago on the beach at Kailua Kona, HI