A Coming of Age

That's me on my 6th Birthday

My sister sent this to me and I was quite surprised when I saw this picture. I had never even seen it before. Apparently it was included in a group of old photos that our Aunt Carolyn had mailed to her. I instantly remembered this little faux mink stole and straw hat with the turquoise hatband and feather that was my birthday gift from Grandmother Grace. We were visiting for the summer, which we often did. I clearly was delighted with this gift of style!

Fast forward to today, which is my birthday. I am entering another decade....and  I don't like it! No sir, not one bit. I'm resisting it. I am being pulled like a tug of war rope into another phase of life.

My birthday card from my children....they know me well!

Something pushes me to speak openly about getting older, while I still seem moderately"young"-before I can be dismissed as just an old broad whining about lost youth. Ok, here goes........

SNAP OUT OF IT!

The Divine Miss M reminded me, as she so often does, to move forward, gracefully and her sweet message greeting me as I read through emails this morning was to appreciate my years of happiness, beauty, laughter, craziness and joy!

So what do I do with the next phase of my life? I'm not sure yet. But I do know that I will continue to embrace my family and the changes that occur within their lives. I will continue to be grateful for yet another day to see them smile and laugh. My granddaughter Abbie and I have a promise to each other, which she reminded me of just the other day. She promised me to never get a tatoo and I promised her never to dress "old!" (whatever that may be in her twelve year old thoughts). It's just a coming of age, my darling...and that's a beautiful thing!