Jan 05, 2003 18:27
first: happy birthday, doug. i am not certain how many times i have said that over the years. i have spent so many birthdays with you, but that should not hinder your actual enjoyment of it. make this a good one.
i ventured over to my mom's home today. it is usually where i go, regardless if i have a predetermined destination in mind or not. upon my arrival, she put me to work. my mom requested that i pluck the leaves from a certain plant for her. i asked why. she replied, in order for nature to deposit the buds and for them to blossom into beautiful flowers, the plant must be bare and start anew from scratch. i asked her if i was supposed to take off the healthy green leaves as well. she said everything had to go, nothing was to be spared. as i pulled and tugged at the leaves - green ones, yellow ones, brown ones, soft ones, crispy ones - dust was escaping the leaves and leaving remnants of a charcoal gray, masking my fingerprints. i felt as if a thousand fine-toothed combs were being brushed across my skin, scraping it off and leaving fleshy crimson tracks. eventually my mom came to my rescue and sat beside me, joining in on the task. she told me that she thought this plant was surely going to die and that everyone had told her to discard it, but she refused to. instead of discarding it, she wanted to blow a breeze of life upon it. she did not do it to prove anyone otherwise.
simply put, i am shedding my leaves and beginning anew. a little late for the new year post, i know. i would like to extend a 'thank you' to those of you whom of which chose not to throw me out. to those of you who constantly pull away the dead leaves for the new buds to blossom. for nurturing me. for keeping me alive.
this is our year for the taking, you and i.