The September 10th Manifesto

so, this is a "re-blog" ... something i wrote last year around my birthday ...

it was a good blog and i'll tell you how i know. most days i can't remember if i've showered or not. but i remember this blog because it made a difference for me when i had the "a ha" moment that precipitated it.

obviously some of the details have changed ... but here it is ... my "September 10th" manifesto ...

enjoy.

***

Sunday was my birthday. September 10. I don’t say that in order to solicit a bunch of belated birthday greetings. Although expensive gifts are always welcomed. Ha! No, I bring it up because I used to love my birthday. Growing up it usually meant I had the first birthday of the school year so my parties were bashes, with my entire class invited and I, of course, was the Queen in a paper hat – the center of attention - for those couple of hours.

During our annual “back to school clothes” shopping trips my mom would inevitably not purchase some of my favorite selections, to my disappointment, only to have them appear weeks later in birthday gifts. Sweet. I didn’t even mind that milestone 30th birthday, a “couple” of years past.

But they stopped being fun in 2001. The eve of 9/11.

We were in Texas, visiting my family, when the planes hit and we knew our life here in the U.S. would not feel “normal” again for a long, long time. For some reason we didn’t have my official birthday celebration on the 10th that year. We were waiting for some more family to fly in and join us. Of course all air travel was suspended for days that morning so they didn’t get there but we did manage to tear ourselves away from FOX and CNN later that evening to go eat some Mexican food. But it was a melancholy celebration, with our conversations entirely focused on the differences between my grandmother’s childhood and the world my daughter had been born in to. That day I could not see the possibility of optimism anywhere.

And ever since I’ve gotten into a little non-age-related funk around my birthday.

Until Sunday. We celebrated with grown-up friends on Saturday night so my entire birthday actually revolved around our family - me, my husband, and our children. And we did exactly as we pleased on Sunday. We got up early and hit the Castle Rock Arts Festival. Because we got there early, we were able to strike up a conversation with an amazing oil painter, Katherine McNeill http://www.katherinemcneill.com/ . John (an extremely talented artist for those of you who haven’t seen his work) engaged Ms. McNeill in a conversation about technique and before we knew it she’d pulled out a painting-in-progress and we all enjoyed a significant chunk of her time, with the kids actually getting to work on the painting with her. It was fun and creative and inspiring and priceless. Then on Sunday night we gathered around the island in our kitchen with boiled shrimp, fresh French bread, brie, grapes and chocolate cake ... my requested birthday dinner menu. We cranked up the iPod sound system and let the kids take turns spinning the tunes (everything from “Hillary Duff” to “Queen” to “Monty Python’s ‘The Galaxy Song’”) and we danced.

Sunday was a perfect day.

I didn’t get caught up in anything but hanging out with the people I love most in the world, celebrating and doing things that make my heart sing.

September 10, 2001. The last full day over 3,000 people spent with their friends, family and loved ones before their lives were suddenly and unexpectedly extinguished.

There were a lot of sweet, precious memories created that day. A lot of last photographs. A lot of last laughs. “Live every day as if it’s your last.” I’ve heard that phrase a thousand times, but remembering September 10, 2001 reminds me, again, how “serious” we should be taking that advice. Because for those people who boarded planes the next morning and went to work in tall buildings and reported for duty in secure buildings, September 10, 2001 was their last day on this earth. And the best way I can honor them, any and all politics and memorials and 21 gun salutes aside, is to live my life to the fullest every day without squandering one precious minute – it’s called living a life of intention. And I believe in my heart, if those 3,000 were to speak to those of us who remain, that would be their message.

So the birthday funk is over. I now choose to see September 10 as a day of celebration and life. It’s a reminder to me that tomorrow is NEVER guaranteed ... that all I have is right now ... and right now ... and right now ... It’s a day to celebrate the lives of those who didn’t live to see September 12, 2001 and to honor them by playing full out while living my one fabulous, extraordinary, precious life here on this earth!

Happy September 10th Everybody!"