Birthdays

Funny how birthdays bring such great expectations. They take us right out of adult mode and into child mode somehow. And that can be okay.

When I was 40, I was just newly divorced. I had a "Forty and Fabulous Party". For gifts I asked friends to fat quarters of fabric and I made a quilt from them. I love that quilt and the story it tells. Yesterday I celebrated 50 with another party. Still not sure where that decade went between 40 and 50.

Someone asked about my life and I divided it into two era's. Before dogs, and after dogs. Not before marriage and after divorce, or before kids or after they left the nest. I'll be the first to say I've been blessed with wonderful friends, cool kids, family and tons of stories about getting back into dating after 40. Dog's have been my passion and my healer, a constant source of joy.

Perhaps that is what celebrating a birthday is all about. Gathering to honor our source of joy. Our friends came to celebrate last night. The best part was, that while they thought they were celebrating me - I was in fact celebrating them.

And that made me very happy.