Napowrimo #10: celebrate!

Prompt for Day 10
Write about a birthday party, a wedding, a baptism — any kind of celebration where you were with family or friends or both. Write about the colors you remember, the sounds and the tastes from any of those events. Whatever happened, be it great or not so great, write about it!


REFLECTIONS ON HER FIFTY-NINTH BIRTHDAY
She forgot the yellow mum they gave her
so Billy dropped it off
along with an old Cool Whip container
crammed with leftover party goodies;
tiny cream puffs and
three different kinds of cheesecake
wrapped in ruffled papers
so they won't stick together.

From her chair on the porch
she watches September rain drizzle down,
one perfect cube of raspberry cheesecake
and a tall gin and tonic on the ledge next to her.
She reflects on the day and her party,
remembers other birthdays.
Then she thinks about next year,
going from fifty-nine to sixty,
a major milestone to pass.

In her mind she hasn't aged;
she's still thirty-five or even forty-three.
Sixty is daunting and downright scary,
she's a woman on the verge of nothing at all.
There's a sense of urgency to do
all the things she still wants to accomplish.
Then she thinks, maybe, just for today,
she'll savor being on this side of the six.