epic days
Lately, it seems that my days have been incredibly long and daunting. The work that I do during the day is absolutely exhausting and leaves me crawling on the couch to do nothing in the evenings. I've become a social hermit because of upcoming events at work. Hopefully after March 14, life will return to some kind of normalcy. Days that I have right now are not the kind that I enjoy.
But, then there are days that I live for… the big historic events, college football Saturdays, holidays. But, more than anything, the days I LOVE are birthdays (probably because I have a December birthday and it gets overshadowed by some other major holidays that don't seem as important as my day… kidding). More specifically, I love to celebrate the birthdays of my friends and family. I always want to do something amazing and unique for birthdays, but it often doesn't happen because of distance or timing. Mostly, I just want to spend time with them and celebrate them, mainly because it's their day.
Tomorrow is a pretty epic day for an amazing woman in my life, well, actually two amazing women. To my great fortune, my dear, sweet, best friend Mollie has the same birthday as my grandmother (so, I just happen to never forget it! Or her anniversary either, because she married on my father's birthday… and strangely enough, Mollie's husband's birthday is my parent's anniversary. Weird, right?). But, back to my story… tomorrow is the birthday for two amazing women, both my grandmother and Mollie. And, March 5 is a sacred day for me.
For my grandmother (Mamaw), tomorrow marks her 75th year with us. And she doesn't look a day beyond 60 (our family has incredible genes). I'm so thankful for her, and she has been the backbone and strength of our family, alongside my Papaw who tends to have failing health at times. My grandmother is the typical southern woman: quiet strength, but she can be the life of the party. She loves to jab at me for "living in the North." We quip back and forth at each other, and I continually remind her that I've never lost any southern flair, especially by just listening to my voice. One of my favorite things to do is to have a really funny story in the bag to tell when I go home to tell her. She's one of those folks who tends to start giggling so hard that she starts tearing up and she can't stop laughing. I love to see her laughing. It can wipe a frown off anyone's face. In fact, in light of the horrific day I've had, thinking about it makes things just a little brighter.
People like my grandmother make me want to leave legacies like I know she will leave behind with me. When I go home, as much time as I want to spend with the multitude of friends I have all across the state, I cherish the stories she passes along about the members of our family who've gone on before. I think she knows that I'll be the next storyteller of the family, as she has been in ours. I've learned so much from our heritage and history from her, and I hope that I can be half the incredible woman that she is when I reach her age. If I can do half of what she does by then and be happy and as full of life as she is, I'll consider my life an amazing and fulfilled journey.
