Birthdays

       It has been an interesting month since my birthday on Christmas Eve. I turned 70 and it was something of a turning--like going around a corner blind. My mortality hit me full force. I don't know why I had not paid attention until then but I suddenly realized: I am human. That means that, like all other humans, I am going to die. 

I just hope that I didn't inherit my female family's short (Great-Grandma Smith, 72, Grandma Edna, 78 and Aunt Renee, 71) lifespans. My mother, Jessie Elaine, died as the result of an vehicle accident. Then, years later, so did her sister, my Aunt Renee. Great-Grandma Ruth lived to be 84, Great-Great Grandma Mina lived to be 81, G-G-Great Grandma Mary was 75; G-G-Grandma Susan was 57; and G-G-Grandma Ida Pearl was 76.

I'm holding out for 100. I need to live that long to see how everything turns out. Some of my grandchildren are young and I do not have any great-grandchildren. So far, this family is a page-turner mystery. I am the person who turns to the last of the book to read the end before going back to start the book because I want to know how it all turns out. I haven’t the patience to wait to find out by reading one page at a time. Of course, in life, I am forced to do just that--wait. Therefore, my life and the lives of my near and dear remain unknown.

I wonder, when we die and end up in the world of spirits, if we pop into the mortal realm to stand on the side, unseen, for a few moments just to see how things are going. Do you suppose? Perhaps we are too busy with angelic duties to do that and have to wait for other family members that we left behind to join us and fill us in on all the family goings-on.

At any rate, one of my friends said, “You are older today than you were yesterday but you are younger than you will be tomorrow.” Somehow, odd as it may seem, that settled my mind. Older today, and a bit wiser than yesterday but not as wise as tomorrow because I will have lived and learned another day. As long as I have a mind to think with, I will enjoy the here and now. Perhaps there will come a day when that will not be the case and each day left will be more confusing that the day before. But until then, watch out, life--here I come!