Saturday, October 10, 2009

What 37 looks like

It never ceases to amaze me how true the statement of "Plus ca change, plus cest la meme chose" rings true. (For all you non-Frenchies, that's loosely translated in English to "The more things change, the more they stay the same") I'm sure my darling sister the French major will correct my spelling and horrific grammar on that one.

Today is my 37th birthday. And while a lot of things have changed, some concrete things have stayed the same. My body is more relaxed, my back aches more, and I have a fine crop of grays showing near my scalp since I decided not to color about six months back. I'm cultivating them like wheat.

But, while my outsides have changed dramatically from, say, twenty years ago, some things have not changed at all. Like the need to wear glasses, my hairy toes, (sorry! Hobbit foot alert!) and my inability to grow a fine set of fingernails.

Similarly, my mind has changed, and not changed as well. Twenty years ago I did not have the same set of beliefs I do now, but I still rallied passionately for what I believed in at the time. The focus has not changed, but what I have my focus set on has. I'm still sharply set on going toward what I think is right, but my definition of 'right' has changed.

One thing that has been constant through all my life, and that's my family. They are and always will be funny, strong, intelligent, at times extremely goofy, some of them have died, some have just come into the world, and I love them all. Times may have changed, but they are always there.

My lovely sister called me today to sing "Happy Birthday" to me over the phone, just as she always has done ever since she moved out of the house when she was twenty. She's 45 now, and still singing. If I ever have to endure a birthday without that sweet ritual, it will certainly undo me. I look forward to it every year! It's not that she's the best singer that early in the morning, either. (Sorry Ria!) It's the fact that she cares enough to do it, year after year, helping me start my special day with a tone of love and acceptance. I hope that part of my life never changes.

So, this is what 37 looks like...somewhat stretched out, grayed, a bit beat up around the edges, rough-hewn yet becoming smoother everyday by the force of life's unrelenting insistence to sand me down through experience and interaction.

I love it.

P.S. Happy Birthday to David Lee Roth, also a 10/10 birthday kid. Betcha didn't know that little factoid, huh? What famous person shares your birthday?? Leave a comment and let's see who we come up with.

2 comments:

  1. I loved reading this post. As my birthday approaches this week, I too often think about how I have changed over the years but also stayed so much the same. It has been interesting lately to find friends from elementary and high school on Facebook and realize how much I am still the same although my life has taken a different path than I ever imagined but it still so me!

    Sarah Ferguson and I will be celebrating our birthdays on October 15. I will be 42!!!

    Congratulations on growing out your hair color. I honestly couldn't tell. I thought you were still coloring it. You must not have as many grays as you thought.

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  2. happy belated b-day I hope you had a good one! Mine is on Nov 5
    I will be 31

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