To All the Beautiful People

As I sit on my bed this morning, (still in pj's because I can), reading the beautiful posts you have all loaded, I think to myself, what a wonderful world (best song ever). All of you are so special in my life and the high-tech gift of this blog just ices the great accomplishment of turning 60.
Some realizations struck me as I read and re-read your posts:

• I never realized that I was running a sweat shop on my bed with you three girls grading papers and entering grades. Tiny slave labor! Thank you.
• My Old Kentucky Home, part memory, part magic, and continuing on into the future with my grandchildren. Who knew? Thank you.
  
• I never realized how much my brothers actually remember from our childhoods. It is funny what sticks in our memories and what doesn't. By putting it all down in words we make those memories collective and even more precious. Thank you.
• I have always known that family is the most important single element of our lives. And so reading the beautiful, intelligent descriptions of what family means to each of us is the kindest gift I could ever receive. Thank you.
• And dear, dear Sarah Buck. There's the old song, "Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver and the other gold". I am blessed to have you. Thank you.
• And perhaps most astounding revelation as I turn 60, is the inheritance we all leave as we pass through life. There are Eleanor and Sarah, reliving their own childhoods through their children. There is Amanda, anxiously awaiting the arrival of her very own memories. There is Susie, still a child to her Mama in so many ways, with the best of her childhood continuing on in the next generations.

Life is a gift, a blessing. But it is also a challenge. We all need to remember that the house payment, the bad report card, the hurt caused by another, the self-doubt, the endless chatter in our minds; all of these are just passing fancies. Just one rendition of "My Old Kentucky Home", one kind word, one loving touch, one beautiful sunrise; these gifts are, in the end, what matters most.
Thank you all for the special gift that you have given me simply by existing on this earth. Ohm.
Susie, Susan, Mama