Because You Can

I push my dark curls back with the same grey elastic headband I wore last night and the one before. Not yet long enough for a ponytail, my hair needs some other form of constraint to keep it free of the soapy suds that wash away the layers of the day. I look at myself in the mirror of the well-lit bathroom, towel-drying my face and wiping off mascara residue from under my eyes. Short feathery wisps of down float above my forehead, too short and delicate to be captured. I remember being young and my mom gently brushing them with her fingers, tracing the different directions they grew. Every time I find my reflection, I see how much we look alike: same olive skin, same dark eyes, same slightly crooked face, same love of our family.

Tonight we all gathered, my mom and her four sisters, me and my younger sister, my dad, my aunts' spouses, childhood friends whose own children have long since left childhood; new friends, old friends, work friends, family friends, life friends. We all gathered in the same dimly-lit back room of the restaurant where my aunt was married four years ago. Tonight was again in celebration: a birthday. Her sixty first birthday. No, it's not a multiple of ten, no particular anniversary or precious metal, but the most special birthday so far. Without a cane, she seemed to glide and float across the room with a smile that spread from ear to ear as she greeted and was greeted by every glowing guest.

In time we joined together in a joyful chorus of Happy Birthday and when she stood to give a short speech, I soaked up every word I could. Be grateful for every morning that you wake up. Choose to live. Choose to fight. Face life head on, don't watch it pass you by as you wait to die a little more each day. Thank God, thank the earth, thank the people who love you, thank yourself for the world around you! Move your body because you can. Live every single day because you can. Above all, never forget how lucky and blessed you are.