Friday, February 27, 2015

The Southern Belle Has a Birthday

Yesterday was my birthday. 

Many of my friends find their birthdays painful. Not me. I love birthdays. It means I made it another year. 

I got to see the world change. 

And I'm still here. 

Of course I was prettier when I was 20. But I didn't think I was. I wanted so much more. Sure I had a 22 inch waist, but my ankles weren't small enough, my nose was too big, etc. etc. Now, of course I'd love to have that 22 inch waist.

What I've learned is beauty is great, but it doesn't make you happy.

I'm much happier now than I was at 20. I have a home, a husband I adore, who loves me, and a son who is successful in a career he enjoys and a nephew and niece who are like my own children. I get to write what I like and I feel great. 

When I left my first husband, he wrote me a letter saying my youth was over and besides I had asthma and a bad back. 

I was in my 20s. Now, beside writing, I swim, I hike, I practice yoga (including flying yoga) and this year I got a kayaking certificate from UCLA. 

And I'm still here.

So I embrace my birthday and look forward to what the year will bring.