Another Birthday

Another birthday has come and gone. The date on the calendar verifies the fact that I'm a year older but I don't look or feel any differently. I keep telling myself it's just a number and the older I become, the more I realize this to be true. It just so happened that this year my birthday fell on the same day as the monthly gathering of our naturist group. What perfect timing! A party of sorts to which I could wear my birthday suit. These get-togethers are usually potluck in nature. This time, however, all food was provided and if desired, the contribution of a bottle of wine would be most welcome. The meal's theme was Spanish so we chose a Spanish wine to share. Neither my husband or I had ever tasted any kind of Spanish wine before. My husband chose the bottle and I'm pretty sure his selection was based on the attractive label and midline price. He's more wine savvy than I but this was unknown territory. Guess what? It was wonderful; we will have to experiement with some more of them.

The weather these past few days has been rather sketchy, not very August-like at all. Extremely cool mornings have been greeting us upon awakening and the grey skies and low fog have been hanging about in a most dreary fashion until early afternoon. Today's function began at 12 noon and as we were heading there around noonish, the sun began to peek through and the skies began to clear. Our destination was a home of the founding member of our group who lives out in the country, high up upon a hilltop. The temperature was perfect and the sun shone down on all of us seated around the deck with the perfect degree of warmth. I knew if I left the sunscreen home, sunshine would prevail. It never fails!

Excellent food, exquisite wine and great camaraderie That's what this birthday was all about. The nicest thing was that there were four new people in attendance that we'd never met before. Two men and two women, all of whom arrived separately. Such nice people and such a treat to meet and talk to some new folks. One of the men had a lilting accent that I soon discovered was a charming leftover from his originally hailing from the Yorkshire region in northern England. After much chit-chat, a plateful of great good and a glass of wine or two, this fellow inquired if anyone liked to play cards. My antennae perked up instantly; I enjoy card games very much and used to know how to play quite a few. These days the only card game played at our house is cribbage. This is a fun game and I love to play it with either my husband or son but it's always nice to learn something new. This man was going to teach us how to play Kaluki. Ever hear of it? I never did and it sounds like a game from the islands, doesn't it? It's played with two decks, including the jokers and I played enough practice rounds with the other newcomers to the game to know that if I could get everything straight in my head, it would be a great game. He promised to bring the cards next time and we would take another stab at the game.

Our host and his wife were playing as a team. We laughed when he noted that the card game naturists usually play is "Put Your Clothes Back On" poker. First one completely dressed is outta there! This is one of those statements where you probably had to be there to appreciate the humor but it struck us all as extremely funny. We had such fun and I wondered why we don't play board games, Scrabble, Sorry and such when we do get together because we all seem to be the kind of people who would enjoy doing this. Perhaps this little card game will act as a catalyst to get some other kind of game going next time.

We returned home around 6pm or so and shortly after that my daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter stopped by with some cards, some gifts and a birthday carrot cake. My son was at work and had presented me with his gifts earlier in the morning. Nice. Very nice. My last couple of birthdays have been highly involved, grandiose affairs (to help this poor woman get over the 50-year mark and beyond). I made it to 52 with little effort and this year's celebration was mellow, laid back and just right in every way. Happy Birthday to me!

A Birthday Entry

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Those of us who have children know that the lifelong journey of parenting is full of trials and successes, tribulations and joy. Each of us has our own criteria of what qualities make us a good parent. It’s a difficult, full time job that comes with no directions and no training manual. Our memories of our own upbringing by our parents are generally the basic guidelines for how we go about guiding our children.

I recently received an e-mail from my daughter which revealed that I had achieved a major success in raising a child who grew up into an adult able to see past the parent to the individual who existed before the title of "Mom" was bestowed upon her. Today is my birthday. I am 52 years old today and while I don’t believe this essay written by my daughter was intended as a gift, I regard it as such and wish to share it with you:

Mom, I took a few minor liberties with the story, but this is something I wrote, and I thought that you might be at least amused by it. I wrote it several times over, but this is the draft that really moved me. You know you have written something good, when it makes you the writer teary eyed:

" The Legacy of my Mother"

How will you be remembered when you are older? Do you have a legacy that you will pass on? A talent, a claim to fame? Is there a picture of you that captures you for what you are, that you hope will retain your youth? If so, what would you be doing in it?

In my parents room, I noticed a picture recently that I had never seen before. It was a recent photo of my mother, taken by my father at the springs resort that they enjoy so much. My parents are occasional naturists, mostly on weekend endeavors and vacations. This framed photo was from one of these such excursions. My mother is sitting by a little pool or pond of sorts, with a bunch of reed type plants behind her. She is sitting sideways, with her knees drawn up to her chest, and her arms about her knees. She has her face turned towards the viewer. It is clear that she is sans clothing, but nothing is revealed. It is a very beautiful picture of a vivacious, fun spirited, fit 50 year old lady of grace. She has a coy smile on her face, and a slight twinkle in her eye, I know my father had just said something to make her laugh, she looks very nymph like. She is in a pose you would expect to find someone painting her in. It is a gorgeous picture. I commented on it to her.

My mother, who works in the elderly care field, often sees photos of young lovers, whom are now aged and wrinkled in their twighlight years. Pictures of once prom queens, now in arthritic pain. Pictures of young girls with pigtails, who are now called ma‘am. My mother takes the picture down and tells me, if she is ever in a nursing home, this is the picture she wants on her nightstand. This is the "self" she wishes to portray to the world. She wants people to look at her and wonder if that gorgeous woman is the one that they see before them, and she will smile knowing such a nymph like woman is still inside the elderly one. I can never see my mother in a nursing home. She, and my father will live with me if ever the time comes. But this picture will endure. This legacy will be the one my mother passes on. I have visions of my own daughter showing it to her children years after my mother, the subject, and my father the photographer have passed. At that point I myself will be an elderly lady, and I will hear my daughter say "this is your great Gramma M, isn’t she beautiful, she was a very adventurous spirit".