Dear Reader:

Yesterday I got this birthday card from Marcia…and it had the perfect  message inside…a good reminder to all of us:

Birthdays aren’t about counting candles, but about counting every happiness in your life.

The more I thought about the statement, the more I realized just how much happiness my life has given me, to date, and how fortunate I am to still be living that happiness every single day.

Dr. Jeter, my oncologist, told me about a restaurant in Portland, Maine that Anne and I plan to visit after we land next Tuesday around lunch time. Dr. Jeter warned me that the lobster rolls could run about 25 dollars…she remembered thinking that was way too much to spend on one lobster roll in something that looked like a hot dog bun. She began talking herself out of getting one…

…But then her husband told her she was worth it…How many more times would they have this opportunity to return without three small children in tow? So Dr. Jeter passed on her husband’s advice to me…Get whatever I  wanted to eat and don’t blink about the cost…“This is your adventure…you have earned it!” Such sweet advice! I intend to do just that!

If we think about it… each age is only a  reflection of an accomplishment we have been subconsciously working for in each and every moment of our lives. One day all our opportunities to get out there, grab life with gusto, while, simultaneously, building memories, will be washed away in the tide of eternity. But not today… So let’s go for it! 🙂

One new thing I have discovered on this benchmark birthday is how I now re-define peace. At a certain age I think we all yearn for peace in our lives. But now I realize that peace isn’t a substitute for noise, craziness, and busyness…instead it is a feeling of calm in my heart in the midst of everyday noise, craziness, and busyness…in other words…peace in daily life. (My gift to myself this year)

Look what brought peace to me yesterday…against the blue azure sky…There it was …the first white bloom on the Confederate Rose bush (more like a tree in height.) The first bloom, in spite of the drought…a miracle…and especially to be located at the tip top of the bush…higher than the roof on the potting shed.

In quick summation…the Confederate Rose legend is based on a Civil War incident in which a Confederate soldier was shot and slowly died over an extended period of time. Each day the first bloom is white…symbolizing the soldier before the shot is fired at him, then pink as his blood begins to spill…ending in a dark color to represent the last of his blood spilled on the ground where he fell.

Each day this cycle repeats itself…over and over so eventually the huge bush is covered in white, different shades of pink and dark rose colors….exquisite. I will keep taking photos as the cycle begins…perhaps tomorrow?

So until tomorrow….

Look at these new lovelies blooming in the garden…much better than colorful balloons or ribbons on presents…my garden knows what makes me happy on my birthday!

“Today is my favorite day” Winnie the Pooh