62

It's official....now I'm 62.... and when I look in the mirror, my image doesn't reflect the person I feel inside.... so I ask "Who are you?"

Perhaps we are to celebrate our birthdays so we can remember both the Good, the Not So Great, and disasters we have experienced. In the end, I believe that we should have more Good and Not So Great events and memories than our life-time disasters. The earliest memory is of my mother calling me her Mother's Day present and the long fingers I had. Mom and I unfortunately did not develop a close relationship until a few years before her death...when she saw me as me and we accepted each other as we are.

Being one of five children, I observed my mother as she gave her love to each of us in the ways she knew best...through her presence, through her being availability, through her cooking and baking, and through her example of giving to other family and friends. Yet, I failed to recognize the many attempts she made to be close to me, because I resented how much time she spent with my sister, who was two years older than me. I never really had my mother totally to myself....something that I craved....until my forties. Funny how I am the most like her, with sewing, crocheting, cooking, baking, and being present to others, mostly my husband. This memory is a Not So Great one.... finally at the end becoming a Great One.

So, today I thank God for this day, and will spend some time with the Blessed Sacrament for that Private Time with God, in thankfulness for my Birthday and my parents who celebrated me with their lives. With much thankfulness for my husband, I will enjoy the day as I spend it with him and our four legged children. There will be phone calls from my siblings, and my brother, Tom, sent beautiful flowers.

Heavenly Father, you have blessed my life in so many ways. Thank you for Your continued love and graces. Jesus, my Redeemer and Lord, thank you for dying and rising from the dead, and Your Ascension into Heaven, and for the beautiful Sacraments of the Catholic Church, especially Reconciliation and for Holy Eucharist.
Holy Spirit, thank you for your continued wisdom and guidance in my life. Please continue to move me out of the way, so that people may see You and not me in my remaining days on Earth. I love you, Blessed Trinity, and I thank you for loving me in the past and in my future.