I celebrated my 73rd birthday two days ago.
Here’s the whine:
I’m in New York City.
Every museum is closed.
Broadway is dark.
No inside dining.
I’m in New York City and the doctor has ordered me to stay off my feet due to my very slow healing ankle injury. Maybe just a tiny, teeny quick shopping spree at Bloomingdales for me? When I casually mention this to one of my sons, his retort: “What? Are you crazy? You need to stay put – you are in the high- risk age range for Covid. And your ankle is a mess.” Geez. Thanks for the reminder.
I’m in New York City and I’ve already eaten my breakfast, lunch and snack allotment of calories and it’s not even noon. And that doesn’t include the succulent little cupcake perched on my kitchen table just waiting to be devoured – after I figure out how to blow out the candle while wearing a mask. The fact that I had no birthday cake candles in the apartment only intensified my frustration.
But then:
Texts and calls and e mails start pouring in – wishing me a happy and healthy birthday.
Later, the following e mail pops up in my inbox from a obstetrician/gynecologist living over 10,000 miles away:
Morning, Iris
- My biggest challenge is overcoming bulimia; having just clicked over 40 years with this ED, and planning on avoiding the 41st anniversary (though my disordered eating goes back further than the bulimia, I know)
- I learned about you when searching for resources to assist me with 1. I purchased your book The Secret Life of a Weight Obsessed Woman.. I can so identify with so much of it, and am now on my second reading of it – making notes this time.
My road to recovery started with your book. Thank you for having the courage & compassion to write & publish it. I look forward to your newsletters too. May we keep on blooming.
As dinner time approaches, my husband wraps me in a huge bear hug and whispers the following in my ear: “I’m a week out of surgery and I haven’t felt this good in 20 years – and every day since my back surgery, I feel even better.”
My son Frank stops by and the three of us walk carefully and slowly two short blocks to a bistro with sidewalk dining for dinner.
As night closes in, one last look at my e mails reminds me of an exciting upcoming zoom event I will be hosting on my philosophy of life. The zoom chat session is entitled Wisdom to Live the Life You Crave. The date is Thursday, August 13 from 10 to 11am EST. And the link is below.
https://san-diego.oasiseverywhere.org/product/wisdom-to-live-the-life-you-crave/
What in the hell was I thinking when I penned my very negative subject line?
This has been a terrific birthday with so much to be thankful for:
GOOD HEALTH
TIME WITH THOSE I HOLD DEAR
WORK THAT HELPS REPAIR THE WORLD
Keep Preserving Your Bloom,
Iris Ruth Pastor