Been damning my December birthday the last few days. December in general is not my favorite month. All I want to do is hibernate. The darkest days of the year!!! But hey, if I wasn’t born in December then I wouldn’t have shared my Nana’s birthday.
I was born at approximately 11:50 pm on December 9th 1971, the same day my grandmother was born 65 years prior. Being born on my Nana’s birthday was great for two main reasons:
- I shared my Nana’s birthday.
- There were 48 or so cousins before me who didn’t.
I was special. At least, I felt like it gave me a slight edge, something that helped me stand out from the crowd in my very large extended family.
It’s always nice to have that isn’t it? A way to stand out, to say “Hey I’m different!”
I come by this way of thinking honestly I guess, I grew up with two older brothers, I was the “girl” and the “youngest”.
Even now I share my home with my husband and 4 boys where I am again the “girl”. You’d think it was by design huh?
…..
Birthday present to me: write out and send Christmas cards. It’s not really in our budget, but it’s my once a year way to reach out to the people I love but do not see often.
…….
We got 2 feet of snow over the last 3 days. I’ve spent hours shoveling the driveway and paths to the house and the chicken coop. Today as I was carrying a 50 pound bag of feed on my shoulder from the car to the chicken coop I was feeling strong and awesome and thinking “I’m pretty strong for someone so small, aren’t I great, yada yada yada” when a thought popped in to shatter my pride: “some people my age can’t walk, can’t carry things, no matter how hard they try, does it really make you so great Lisa to be able to carry this load, or are you just lucky/blessed that your body always did and continues to work for you?”
Man, I am thankful, thankful that my body has served me so well these 39 years. It really reminded me that I don’t deserve my life, I’ve just been given it. The best you can do is play the hand you are given and have the grace to not act like it was you who stacked the deck.
From the other side of 38,
~Lisa
