"Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake"
Today I am grateful for little reminders of how humans are intricately connected to one another: reminders like a wave from a friend driving by and a couple rescheduled appointments that fell into place.
I am also grateful to have read Anna Quindlen's memoir Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake. The book came out in 2012 and includes Quindlen's reflections as she heads into her sixties. I'm staring down 48 and rounding the corner to fifty. There was much to consider and much to smile at in Quindlen's words.
Since this week we celebrate our nation's birthday, and I happen to celebrate my own birthday too, I thought I would focus on some of the gems I pulled out of Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake.
On p. 57 she talks about turning points:
"We often think of turning points as monumental events, but in retrospect they are so often minor moments: a lunch here, a drink there, a chance meeting, a fluke."
So true. Sure, there are big moments like the birth of our son Sam, but day-to-day little points of parental pride make a difference and show me that he is growing up into his own person. I met Darcy by chance, after almost missing that chance. What if we hadn't met? What course would my life have taken?
Today I will appreciate the minor moments that make life rich.
On p. 100, Quindlen talks about getting older and how, when people get past physical ailments and complaints about aging, they often have this to say:
" . . . winds up admitting that they're happier now than they were when they were young. They feel as if they've settled into their own skin, even if that skin has sun damage."
Comfortable in my own skin. Something I usually am now. Something I rarely was in my teens and twenties. Like the sun damage to our skin, we don't go through life unscathed, but we come to appreciate how the hardships help bring us to this "settled in" place. We survive the difficulties, even learn from them, and realize we are more than we gave ourselves credit for.
Today I will appreciate the comfort of being in my own skin.
I am also grateful to have read Anna Quindlen's memoir Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake. The book came out in 2012 and includes Quindlen's reflections as she heads into her sixties. I'm staring down 48 and rounding the corner to fifty. There was much to consider and much to smile at in Quindlen's words.
Since this week we celebrate our nation's birthday, and I happen to celebrate my own birthday too, I thought I would focus on some of the gems I pulled out of Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake.
On p. 57 she talks about turning points:
"We often think of turning points as monumental events, but in retrospect they are so often minor moments: a lunch here, a drink there, a chance meeting, a fluke."
So true. Sure, there are big moments like the birth of our son Sam, but day-to-day little points of parental pride make a difference and show me that he is growing up into his own person. I met Darcy by chance, after almost missing that chance. What if we hadn't met? What course would my life have taken?
Today I will appreciate the minor moments that make life rich.
On p. 100, Quindlen talks about getting older and how, when people get past physical ailments and complaints about aging, they often have this to say:
" . . . winds up admitting that they're happier now than they were when they were young. They feel as if they've settled into their own skin, even if that skin has sun damage."
Comfortable in my own skin. Something I usually am now. Something I rarely was in my teens and twenties. Like the sun damage to our skin, we don't go through life unscathed, but we come to appreciate how the hardships help bring us to this "settled in" place. We survive the difficulties, even learn from them, and realize we are more than we gave ourselves credit for.
Today I will appreciate the comfort of being in my own skin.
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