Little kid birthdays are full of cake and specter of toys
wrapped in colorful paper just out of reach. Little kid birthdays are scored in
the happy birthday song and the laughter of friends hopped up on sugar and an
excuse to run around screaming.
Adult birthdays less so.
Except…
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| 3 spices a month and recipes to go with them |
Except when your friends are utterly amazing and tell you
for forty days, in honor of your soon-to-be 40 years, that you are special and
loved.
Forty days of 40 started with a microplane. My mom handed it
to me while I was in Houston for xmas and I assumed it was a holiday present.
It was a little strange because my family doesn’t really do xmas presents for
the adults. But I’d been talking about a microplane for a while and my mother,
ever thoughtful, had clearly been listening.
And so it began. A trickle to a cascade, the gifts came in
from all over. A container of quarters (I always need quarters to wash), knives,
a whisk, words of wisdom, words of beauty, warriors tickets, pictures, books,
spices, earrings, socks, a food tour, music, amazon gift cards, a plant, edible
arrangements. The list goes on. A list of whimsy and planning.
As amazing as every single gift has been these last 40
days…the thought behind each one. The person who typed or wrapped or mailed or delivered
is all the more.
I’m not even on Facebook, so every person had to be
excavated from old group emails and the daisy chain of who knew who.
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| Books about food! |
I’ve never been too caught up in the steepness of my age.
I’ve sometimes even been strangely excited by the passing of time. When Ms.
Hall elegantly shared that the 30s were amazing, my then 21 year old brain
began to anticipate 30 like few people do. and while 40 didn’t have the same
incredible endorsement, I assumed it would mark its presence the same way most
of my birthdays had…
I was wrong.
Forty has been a path strewn with every beautiful thing a
person could wish for…the overflowing abundance of family, both blood and
chosen.
Appreciation is too paltry a word, I love you to inadequate
a phrase. But for the moment they are
all I have. I love and appreciate you all…40 looks amazing from here.
