Today is my mother's birthday and even though she's not here to celebrate it anymore, I'm celebrating. Without her birthday, I'd have no birthday, or my son, or my grandson. So in a way it's all of our birthdays.
Thinking that way give me a lot more days to celebrate. Actually, I try to celebrate every day for something. The end of the week, the beginning of the week. The end of a month and the start of another. Spring, summer, fall and winter. The longest day and the shortest one. Just because it's Wednesday.
It doesn't have to be a big celebration. Just a bubble of happiness drinking my morning coffee and watch the wind tickle the trees. Enjoying slices of an orange. Or like we did in honor of my mother, go out for really good ice cream. Ice cream was her favorite food. Like me, she loved vanilla.
We went to Salt and Straw, a trendy ice cream place in Studio City. They have the best vanilla ice cream and today they had their regular and French vanilla. We got a scoop of each and shared. They don't have indoor seating and it was too chilly to sit outside, so we sat in the parking lot behind Bookstar and watched a group of what I guessed were late in their teens guys (it was dark and they were across the parking lot) have some sort of gathering around their cars. Their body language said it was friendly and just hanging out.
The moon was a slice of dark yellow in a black sky on the way home. It hanging so low in the sky and seemed so large. It's lucky I wasn't driving because I couldn't take my eyes off of it.
My mother would have enjoyed our celebration. She loved birthdays. She loved giving parties. She was always cheerful and never complained. Of course, we fussed, but then what mother and daughter don't, but mostly we got along very well. I keep a birthday card she sent me in 1992 next to my computer to look over when I have a bad day. It's a handmade card and she wrote her own message and said she was the luckiest mother because she'd won the jackpot getting me as her daughter. She wished for me to be happy and enjoy.
All I can think to say is thank you.
5 comments:
Happy Birthday !! My adoptive mother would be 109 today, Feb 4, !! Small world...I think I will get some fudge--too lazy to make it like she did, but it was a favorite. Lots of memories, mostly good, but she has been gone so long now--1979. She knew her grandchildren when they were quite young, and missed so much. Within a couple of months of her death, I learned I was adopted. Certainly one of the biggest turning points in my life.
Happy birthday to your mom, and happy celebrations of whatever kind! And certainly it's great to celebrate with ice cream. I visit Bookstar a lot. Too bad I didn't see you there.
Linda Osborn, how interesting about the shared birthday. My mother would be 112. I hope the fudge was good. It's too bad you didn't know about your adoption when your mother was alive. It had to have been a big shock to find out.
Linda O. Johnston, Bookstar is one of the few bookstores in the Valley. I miss all the Barnes & Nobles and Borders.
Happy Birthday! My mother's birthday was February 1. She would have been 114. I love how you celebrate each day. I think about that but now I am going to do it consciously. I love wandering through Bookstar too.
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