What I want on my birthday (swunked from sartorias - never let a good idea go to waste)

[fpb]

So, tomorrow I turn 46.

Here is my wish, for anyone dropping by, who has a few extra seconds: you share with me some special memory. This was sartorias' suggestion, which I cannot improve upon: I know how busy people are. It doesn't have to be long. One good thing about having a brain wired for image is that the briefest reference to, say, "The day i saw

Comments

Just because its you....

[stigandnasty919]

Happy Birthday

Re: Just because its you....

[fpb]

And may it be a happy and loving relationship for the rest of your lives. Thank you.

[super_pan]

Happy Birthday!

One time when I was a very young child, my family was friends with the family across the street, and we children would exchange Christmas gifts. One year, I and the girl gave each other the same gift (I can't remember what it was, I think it was a doll), and my brother and the older boy gave each the same gift, which were rubber bats. We always thought it was so crazy, but just this past year, I was talking to my husband (who also lived his early years in the same small town I grew up in), and he said he also had one of those bats, and he remembered where he got it too. We then realized there was basically one major place where you got toys like that (back then), and so it was actually not such a crazy coincidence that we all got each other the same toys.

I really like this idea alot, and I can't wait to do it on my birthday!

[fpb]

For that, thank sartorias. And thank you.

[bdunbar]

And incidentally: happy birthday to [info]bdunbar

Thank you very much! And to you, as well.

....

Sunset, Okinawa Japan. Out for a stroll by the water I witnessed (from a distance) a baptism. A lay preacher had taken some of his flock into the surf and was dunking and baptism, pray aloud .... the time of the day, the sun slanting across the ocean as it set in the west ... it was memorable.

[fpb]

I dare say that that image must have meant more to someone who belongs in the American Protestant tradition - I would have had trouble even understanding what was going on. But that is one of the great things about this Livejournal business - getting to understand how others think and imagine. Thanks for your memory!

[tashmania]

Happy birthday to yooou!

It just so happens the first memory that came into my mind upon reading this was from the first time I went to Rome! It must be the effect you have on me, haha!

Anyway, onwards. The first day after we arrived, we decided to go for a walk around the city near our hotel. I still remember walking down the road, and stopping dead when I realised I was looking upon the ruins of the ancient forum. I saw the ruins of Curia, the temple of Vesta, the main square; it took so long to just take it all in. It was at that moment that it clicked that everything I'd read about in books, all I'd studied at school, it had existed, it was real. Two thousand years ago, people had lived, walked, prayed, loved and lost in the very place that I was now looking upon. History became real for me, if you will, and it just blew me away. I treasure that memory.

[fpb]

On the other hand (see above), I have no trouble at all understanding this one. It is an experience that Rome's own citizens often have. You know you are a Roman when you have said at least once: "More often than not, this city drives me mad. But every now and then I just stop and feel overwhelmed by how beautiful it is." Or rather, "how beautiful she is" - Rome is always, definitely, female. And not just beautiful, but laden with history and meaning. Incidentally, I had a somewhat similar experience visiting a few local temples in Madras and Bangalore.

Thank you.

[sanscouronne]

When I was little, my Maltese grandmother would sometimes come and stay at our house. And though we are a Catholic family, my grandmother brought with her the beauty and mystery of the "Old World" and the traditions of Catholicism that seem so distant to Americans.

Every morning, upon rising, she would say the rosary out loud. Sometimes I would stand outside her door and listen to her whisper the prayers in Latin. English being my primary language, the sound of the Latin prayers seemed so mystical and sacred to me. There was always something very comforting and simply beautiful about the sound of my grandmother diligently chanting the rosary. In a way, I sort of unconsciously connect your Italian heritage/Catholic faith/many posts about the Church with these lovely memories of my grandmother.

I wish you the happiest of birthdays, Fabio. This was an excellent thing to do in honor of it, because in conjuring happy memories, we can celebrate your day and send those good feelings to you. :)

[fpb]

And reclaim them for yourselves. Thank you.