And these thy gifts

Yesterday, I celebrated life with another slice of birthday cake and, if you’ll indulge an old woman, I’d like to share a couple of observations I made at the close of my 53rd year.

1. Full plates should be savored. There is a tendency to gobble when our plate is full, to rush the chewing so the roasted cauliflower tastes almost exactly the same as the fried chicken, and the niceties of the meal get lost in the frantic scrape of the fork. Sometimes, I think the fuller the plate, the more important it is to slow down, breath deeply and pay attention to each element of the meal. Life is like that too. There’s a real danger in wasting the tastiest part of your day because you’re so focused on ticking the next thing off your to-do list.  I’m going to work harder on my table manners going forward, to give each portion of my plate at dinner and in life the respect it deserves.
2. Real pushups are darn near impossible. I always think I’m doing pushups like Jack LaLanne, and then I make the soul shattering mistake of catching my reflection in a mirror or some rudely shiny window and I think,”Who is that hunchback with her butt up in the air?” This is my year, though. God willing (and maybe a leeetle less potato on the plate).
3. One should never waste a wish. I wrote a whole blog about that almost three years ago and I stand by it. Earlier this week, I accidentally bought trick candles for someone’s birthday cake, and as he struggled to blow them out , they kept relighting. “Just look at all those wishes you get to make!” I said, though I’m sure he directed at least one of those wishes my way, via stink eye, in a less than charitable manner.
4. Bravo to the artists. I admire and try to support any artist brave enough to share his or her work. Where would we be without musicians, actors, comedians, photographers, painters, poets, novelists, playwrights and the like? The ability to create both transcends and constructs culture and makes this old world eye-wellingly beautiful.
5. I’m grateful for every friend.
6. Any day gets better when I answer the phone and one of my kids is on the other end of the line. Yesterday, I got to talk to all four.

We still say the same prayer every night at dinner that we said when our house was full of kids:

Bless us oh Lord

and these thy gifts

which we are about to receive

from thy bounty through Christ our Lord Amen.

I’m going to savor that part of the meal too.