(May/June Conversations Magazine)What really matters on my "aged" birthday? For one magical moment I share time with my great-granddaughter, 19 months old, who scrawled a "frog" to greet me - a special memento! And our weekly breakfast, always the same, but the ultimate expression of time fully shared and enjoyed!
And the remarkable cards from people who always reach deeply into my soul, like Maya Angelou's words, "A bird doesn't sing because it has an answer; it sings because it has a song!" For this one moment I am that bird and that song!
Or my "adopted" son's comment: "Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass. It's about learning how to dance in the rain. ." This is the year that I shall perform that ritual dance! Or from my very intellectual cousins who have an exciting life of concerts, theatres, and books - who wrote: "It's not age or appearance or lifestyle that makes a person young. It has a lot to do with attitude
and openness to life and reaching out beyond yourself. It's something that many people never figure out, but, lucky you...it's what you're all about."
It matters not that I'm a year older, and a trifle more slow in my responses! Or that my limbs will not always behave as I wish them to?
Not at all! Life moves on; we change and grow with the years, or we decay and refuse to more forward!
In essence, we are all one, doing the best we can with what has been apportioned to us; it is our challenge each day to create our own sunshine and warmth, to share with those who live in our own small firmament!
Helene Weinberger is a 87-year old World War II veteran that devotes a great deal of her time to volunteering. You can contact her at hmwtcb@gmail.com.
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