My mother-in-law is turning 80 soon. We’ll all be there for the party. She’s raised kids to be parents, businessmen, teachers, public servants. The day she turns 80 one of many grandchildren will graduate from college. She’s been through hip surgery and declining eyesight. Her faith – in her family, in her God, in the goodness of people – still stays strong, though. I don’t know what dreams she had for herself or where she thought she’d be at this age. I’ve been too busy running on the hamster wheel that is my life to ask her. So in her honor (and in honor of my own mother who never came close to 80) here’s what I want when I reach that milestone:
a yard with arching branches of lilacs, forsythia, and bridalwreath spirea
peonies that live another 30 years
one summer where I beat the squirrels in the great tomato battle
children who visit without me dropping hints
a trip to the Galapagos with Brad and a marriage as old as the tortoises
salsa dancing
a writing life in which I still have something to say and people want to listen
one day at one ancient place in Greece (which one doesn’t matter)
somebody who remembers me for doing something kind for them
my mother’s sense of humor
my own joints
my mother-in-law’s calm
knees and a back that still let me put shovel to ground
stamina to climb the hills of Scotland again
most of my own teeth
eyes to see the green of spring and the words of Emerson
curiosity
memories of all the people I love
my sisters, laughing, on the other side of the table at lunch
my children living lives of their own choosing
old friends and new
mastery of the French language
mastery of fried chicken
my faith
the end of home renovations
a place for all my books
a fire on a cold winter night
tulips outside my window in spring
chocolate without guilt
I don’t need the extremes to be happy. There are not 1000 places/things I need to see before I die. I don’t need to be on the edge of danger to feel alive. I’m happy just moving forward, one step every day.
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This is one of my favorite pieces of yours - and one of my favorite pieces of the week! This list is just such a wonderful combination of the mundane and the profound - pretty much like life. I read this one more than once, just for the pleasure of it.
ReplyDeleteI love that you have mastery of Fried Chicken that reminds me of your ode to your mother. My great grandmother passed away on Friday. She was 104. If I can do half the things in my life that she did in her 104 years i will be a very happy and busy woman.
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