Last Week Was My Birthday–says Debe Bloom

It wasn’t a significant birthday, and yet, aren’t they all? I was delighted just to be able to get up and out of bed without the discomfort of aches and pains.  Especially in light of the preceding week where I had a severe reaction to some mediation that was prescribed to me.

 

Although I made the decision to visit some friends in the Bay area and spend the birthday day with my daughter (some six hours away from home by car), I was still very connected to my world as I know it.  Kudos to the World Wide Web!  What amazed me before I even got dressed for the day was the many birthday wishes that were coming my way.  It was overwhelming and warming. 

Before I continue, let me share some background info.  I have a tradition that I established about 12 years ago.  This tradition circles around a gift that I supposedly gave my sister.  Well, the real story is this:  every day in February we made it a practice to wear purple to celebrate our birthday and our twinship. We would call each other each of the 28 days and ask the other, ‘what are you wearing’.  If we acknowledged that we were wearing purple, all was good.  If we didn’t acknowledge that, the poor dresser would get such a razzing…something we didn’t want from the other. 

One year, we agreed ‘no gifts’.  When we met for lunch on our birthday, Carol put two small gift boxes on the table. She had me open mine first;. It was a silver brooch with my D initial in gold on it and a piece of purple amethyst.  On the back was the inscription: Happy Birthday love Carol.  Perfect!  Now I just had to wear the pin every day in February and I was wearing purple—and it went with either silver or gold jewelry. What an incredible, thoughtful gift.   

Then it was Carol’s turn to open her gift.  Lo and behold; it was a silver brooch, with a gold initial of C, a piece of amethyst, and the inscription of  “Happy Birthday love Debe” on the back.  She was so funny….and fun.   

We each wore those pins each February thereafter, every day.  Until she couldn’t. 

12 years ago, I wore Carol’s pin on our birthday as I was traveling with a close friend around the Bay area.  A full day of exploring so many different areas, shops, sights…which lasted from early morning and taking us until very late. When we got home, I realized that I had lost the “C pin”.  The following morning we retraced our steps and actually found the pin 30 miles away from where I then lived; in a gutter and run over by a car.  I had to have the pin repaired.

Now, back into the present of this year:  Throughout the day, my iPhone kept lighting up with messages of birthday wishes.  Each time I received a notification, I touched the “C pin”…bringing my circle of friends and family to something near and dear to me.      

I share this story with you, each of you, to let you know how much I appreciate your thoughts, your words and your wishes.  As each day comes and goes in my life, I re-realize that it’s not the things we buy, the clothes we wear, the cars we drive or the homes that we own that make us the people that we are.  Instead, it is the ones in our lives who enrich us on levels that material things have no landing space.  It’s the ones who take the time to reach out, even if in cyberspace, that show us how our actions and our words create our own personal world; those who engage with us who build our ideas, our self-worth, our morals, our credibility.

Again, thank you for being a part of my realm….and for ‘being’.

It’s Thanksgiving Time & I’ve Gone Blank…!

Well, that’s not necessarily true. I haven’t blogged in a while because I thought I hadn’t had anything of value to share. When I sit down at my computer, my mind would just whirl with a matrix of thoughts, none that made any sense to me. However, when I was away from my posting apparatus, fabulous thoughts would swirl—usually in the shower (how many times has that happened to you??)
My thoughts are still whirling. There’s a lot going on in my mind. The upcoming Thanksgiving holiday has me thinking about when to put the turkey in the oven; how to arrange the tables to sit 17 comfortably; will the dog need to be bathed on the day of, who’s going to wash my car for me today before my appointment at noon…and on and on.
Thanksgiving is such a warm celebration of the founding of our country; of family, friends, the harvest and having a bounty of food to share with all. The sound of having people I care about in my home warms my soul. It is because of that, and because families are constantly changing and growing, that our Thursday Thanksgiving celebration will be held on the day after, on Friday.
When the realization that celebrating on Thursday would have a table setting only for five, and all the efforts of making a memorable meal would be the same as if for 20, I asked my husband what his thoughts were if we were to move our celebration to the next day. His immediate response was “Thanksgiving is on a Thursday!” Naturally, after I explained to him that our home would be filled with so many more on Friday, he agreed.
However, the most prevalent thought lingers: “will Thanksgiving still feel like Thanksgiving if we are celebrating it on Friday, rather than Thursday?” What’s your thought?