50 Birthdays Old and Mom
Let me ramble a moment… My mother turned 50 in the fall of my freshman year of college, and in the midst of a fight with cancer that it appeared we were winning. In a celebratory mood we threw her a party at a local restaurant and sent her a mail stripper. Sadly, the poor man, cute though he was, couldn’t dance, and she ended up embarrassing him by getting up to dance with him and starting to unbutton her shirtwaist dress… Later she said, “if I’d had different underclothes I wouldn’t have stopped at 3 buttons! (and people wonder about my tendencies to dance in public at the slightest provocation… all I can say is I come by it genetically!)
That was September. In January her hip broke due to the chemo – they had the choice – end the chemo that was winning so her hip could heal, and hope the cancer didn’t notice, or live bedridden until the chemo was over and then hope the hip would heal. She and her doctors chose the former. It was the wrong one for survival, and we lost her on January 25, 1985.
Live Life
You may wonder why I’m thinking such depressing thoughts on my 50th birthday. After all, most of my friends have, or are, planning on celebrating in a big way – one took her dream trip to Iceland, and another had the party of his lifetime! But it’s not so much about the end of Mom’s life. Right now I’m remembering her sense of life – her excitement to try just about anything. She was an artist; a dancer; a mother. And everything she tried, she did with her entire being. I often say that were she still here she’d be dancing with my student bellydance troupe, Bijoux, and stealing the show from all of us.
I’m now 50. I’m healthier than I have been in years. Life isn’t going to wait for me. My mother’s birthday message is for all of us – reach out and try everything you’re interested in. And enjoy every moment you have.
And if you’re interested in art or stitching, now’s the time. Everything in my Etsy shop is on sale this month for 20% off (with the coupon code 50THBIRTHDAY) And that discount is in addition to the clearance prices on printed patterns. And it includes custom doodle stitch designs!
