I am celebrating my birthday today. I feel immense gratitude for the many experiences that I have had throughout the past 69 years. For reasons I am not sure of, God has always had my back – through good times and bad. While my life has been a seemingly endless stream of challenges, I have had privileges that at times, made me feel like the most fortunate woman in the world.
The first and most amazing gift that came into my life was my first born daughter. She was born at home easily and naturally. My second daughter followed two years later, also born at home. The third daughter came into the world seemingly effortlessly, on a beautiful and sunny Sunday morning, surrounded by her father, two older sisters, one grandmother, and our cat, who nursed her kittens while I labored to give birth. My daughters were perfect and healthy. I have watched them grow into strong and extraordinary women. They are now my best friends.
After my daughters were raised, I began a journey to pursue my dreams. My biggest dream was to have property with a pond and swans swimming on it. That dream, as you know, eventually came to pass. I was, in Joseph Campbell’s words, “living my bliss”. It was these phenomenal experiences that made my insignificant existence, one that meant the world to me.
As I set foot into another year of my life, it is with the hope that I can inspire a few of my younger family members, as my own grandmothers inspired me. My two great-granddaughters came to visit me this past Sunday. I had not yet met the two year old and I had seen the three year old only once when she was a baby. They did not treat me with the same ambivalence shown to me by my grandchildren; but approached me with loving, open arms. The three of us went for a walk just after dark, in the almost full moonlight. We had fun and for the first time in years, I felt that I might still make a difference. A third great grandchild was born about a week ago (a boy). Are my great grandchildren my reward for having lived so long? Will my great grandchildren see that I crusaded, in my way, to save our planet and leave them with a hopeful future? Who knows how long I will still be here? Whether or not I am around for my next birthday, I will continue to fight (and write) for as long as I am breathing, to leave the world a better place for my precious grandchildren, for all children – and for all life.
