Woke up this morning in a great mood. I had an appointment to get my hair cut and colored. I’m not sure about you, but when I have a fresh cut and color, I feel like I’m ten years younger. The euphoria may last one day or may last several weeks depending on how stressful the rest of my life is at the time. But I always take time to bask in the buoyancy of my artificially created youth high.
Today is Christi’s 25th birthday. I ordered balloons to be delivered to her at work. (Never, ever miss out on a public opportunity to display your love for your child. It makes up for all the times they have embarrassed the fool out of you in a restaurant or department store.) I sent out the traditional “Happy Birthday” song text before I even got out of bed. I got out of bed feeling like super mom.
When I looked in the bathroom mirror, hair askew and face puffy from sleep, it hit me like a punch in the stomach. CHRISTI IS 25!!! That is two and one half DECADES! How did 25 years slip past me. It seemed like as I slept, my daughter took her first steps, said her first words, went to her first day of school, had her first kiss, graduated from high school, went to college and moved four states away from me. My heart didn’t understand where the time went, but the face staring at me in the bathroom mirror had seen every single minute’s passage.
I must have had some sort of emotional ESP when I made the hair dresser appointment for this day. Not early, not late. Just in the middle of the day. Not too soon to not be appreciated and not too late to curb the emotional tide. So I went to my appointment and came out feeling ten years younger. My grey hair expertly masked as “highlights” with a fresh little cut that swings just slightly with my jaunty little steps.
I will never understand why my birthday doesn’t bother me at all but the kids’ birthdays make me stutter just a little. Oh, well, all I know for sure is on October 25th 2013 I plan on being in a spa somewhere south of the equator drinking a fruity little drink with an umbrella in it. This will be the day Matthew turns 30!
Kae