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The birthday girl arrived wearing a flowing dress with a floral and butterfly print.
I congratulated her with a warm hug, and she continued fluttering, weightless, among her guests.
In truth, I hardly knew anyone, so I sat shyly, observing the party. The dessert table immediately caught my attention. A large birthday cake stood in the middle, surrounded by an array of irresistible treats.
I helped myself to a plateful of temptations and closed my eyes, reveling in the pleasure.
That’s when something strange happened.
A great hubbub surrounded me. The feast guests took me by the hand and invited me to play with them.
I offered no resistance and joined in their joyful songs and running around. Yes, suddenly we were all children.
It was time to sing happy birthday.
We surrounded my friend, and when we finished singing, I came out of my reverie and returned to reality, as if 90 years had passed in a second.
Yes, my beautiful friend was turning nine splendid decades old.
Finally, we returned to our true time (and age), and as Napoleon said when contemplating the pyramids of Egypt on his 1798 bell: Soldiers, forty centuries of history behold you…
But this other daydream felt very authentic to me, for I found the inner children in the eyes of those of us who sang with admiration that timeless happy song on my friend’s ninetieth birthday.
As they say, age is just a number, and how nice it is to meet again as children who only want to play.
With age comes wisdom, they say, but in the end, children are our true teachers.
Today she shares her “impulsive meditations” from Calgary, Canada, where she lives.
leonorcanada@gmail.com