A Quarter of a Century!

"My feet almost touched heaven," I said.  My grade school had the best swing set known to mankind! I could almost swing a complete 180 degrees.  Each time I would try to get a little higher.  I used to close my eyes just a little on the swing up so that only the sun's golden light could shine through.  To me . . . it was heaven.  

Growing up, my birthday seemed to mark the end of summer and the beginning of the school year. Now, my birthday seems to mark . . . well nothing really.  The seasons come and go unnoticed by me. If you come to my house, you'll be greeted by a cute little bunny sign that says, "SPRING!" Okay, so I've been a little busy.  

The night before my 25th birthday, I worked until 3 am.  As I sat at my "L" shaped desk in a room that I painted yellow, I reminisced of my younger years and all things yellow . . . like the sun's golden light when swinging.  I remembered picking honeysuckles on the playground, cold glasses of lemonade during the summer, the yellow jumper I used to wear, and the yellow balloons and ribbons mom tied to the house to welcome and celebrate my grandparents' decision to come live with us.  Time seemed to have slipped through my fingers.

Around 7:30 the next morning, the birthday wishes began pouring in via text and phone.  I buried my face in my pillow trying to forget.  After all, I was planning on working most of the day.  11 AM arrived and Nathan's mom came over bearing a bag of birthday treats.  I was SO not getting away with forgetting my birthday.  She brought pictures from the beach, cupcakes from Magpies, earrings, and a giftcard to Pottery Barn.  Yeah . . . my mother-in-law's pretty awesome!  She always makes it a point to make everyone feel special, a quality I highly admire. Within 30 minutes Nathan was ringing my phone, asking his mom and I to lunch.  So I threw on some clothes and a little make-up and we headed downtown to meet Nathan at Tomato Head. After lunch Nathan requested that I come to his office so he could give me the key to our mailbox.  He had been expecting a package for a couple of days now. So I waited in the lobby, staring at the elevator door, expecting him to walk back through any second. Suddenly, however, I saw Nathan walking in from outside the building carrying a dozen roses. Very confused, I asked, "Who are those for?" I really thought someone had asked him to take them to the front desk for someone else.  He looked at me, paused, and sarcastically said, "Oh, these are from your ex.  I was just dropping them off for him." And then with a smile, he said, "These are for you . . . from me.  Happy Birthday."  I couldn't help but laugh at how oblivious and in denial I was that it was my birthday!  As I smiled ear to ear, he kissed my cheek and was off. Walking through the streets of downtown with a vase full of roses, I felt a summer breeze whip through my hair.  I felt alive . . . and lucky.