Moonflower Moments

September is my birthday month and a time when I review the challenges and accomplishments of the past year, and decide what I want to do in the coming year.  September is a time of new beginnings.  I used to look forward to the start of a new school year, with the smell of new notebooks, pencils, crayons, and other supplies that would be used to record all the new things that I would learn..  I loved looking through the textbooks that were distributed and getting a preview of what I would be learning in the year ahead.  New school clothes, supplies, and lunchboxes were purchased during the“back to school” shopping trips that my mother would take me on.  I have always been excited about learning new things, and even though I am turning 70 this year, I still feel that my learning curve will be enhanced in the fall.

       My birthday can also be a time of pressure to decide what to do on my special day.  My family continues to ask what I want to do on my birthday and what I would like.  When you reach a milestone birthday, such as 70, the pressure intensifies.  Do I want a party?  How about a trip?  For my 60th birthday, my husband and I went to one of my favorite places in the world, Paris.  As Audrey Hepburn once said, “Paris is always a good idea!”  This year, I have decided to take a different approach to another year around the sun.  Unlike some people, I am not depressed about getting older, but rather excited to begin a new decade.  My mother’s 103rd birthday is the week before mine, and this year we celebrated by getting together and doing things we enjoy, such as gardening, baking, talking, and even sharing beauty tips.  We both had hip replacements this year, so that we could continue to do the things we loved without pain.  I realize how fortunate I am to have her in my life, and that she is active and vibrant at her age.

    I  realize now that the greatest gifts arrive when you least expect them.  My husband and soulmate appeared in my life when I was about to graduate from my master’s degree program and take on the world of marketing and advertising.  I was eager to move to larger cities, far away from my hometown, and enjoy new experiences.  My husband is thirteen years older than I am, was a professional with an established business, recently divorced, and perfectly content to reside in our hometown.  He was supportive of my career plans and told me that I deserved the chance to follow my dreams as he had done thirteen years before we met.  Over the course of our three-year relationship, we came to realize that we were destined to be together, and I began my career path at the local level.  Fortunately, I was able to travel extensively in my job and move ahead in my chosen profession.  Marrying him was a decision that I have never regretted.

    I also never expected to become a mother after two years of marriage, but that has turned out to be my greatest gift, and our son never ceases to amaze us with his talent and personality.  Even though he now lives across the country in Los Angeles, he is always a plane trip, a call, or a text away. He was fortunate enough to find his soulmate, and she has also become an important part of our lives.

    This year brought another unexpected gift, in the form of a six-month-old kitten named Scout.  I have always been a cat lover, and we have had many cats that have shared our home over the years.            They were always purebred female cats and “divas” with an attachment for only one person in the household, me.  After our last cat went “over the kitty rainbow,” we decided to wait a while before getting another cat.  Scout had other ideas.  He appeared after a rainstorm when he heard us talking on the lanai.  He was a skinny, six-month-old orange tabby known as a “gingercat,” very insistent upon getting our attention and letting us know that he was the cat for us.  After being checked out, receiving his annual vaccinations, and being neutered, he now rules our household and brings us incredible joy each day.  

    This year, I have decided to celebrate another trip around the sun by exploring new experiences and creating more “moonflower moments to share on Facebook and Instagram with my followers. I hope you will join me in celebrating this incredible month that brings multiple celestial events, a little cooler weather, and new beginnings.