Birthdays, Milestones and Peacocks
Anyone who's lost someone knows how bittersweet birthdays can be. One often feels guilty for having a birthday at all, while our loved one will never have another. Friends and family go out of their way to shower us with attention and make sure we have plans, lest we end up alone. Of course, more often than not, that's all we really want... to be left alone.
But then we feel guilty about denying everyone the opportunity to show their love. We might even feel guilty because we know our loved one wouldn't want us to be alone and moping about. We know he/she would want us to do something special, if not for us then for them.
Today is my birthday. I am now 43 years old, the same age as Kaz when he died (technically, he was 43 years and 6 months old). Soon I will be older than him, which seems very strange indeed. I always thought of him as older and wiser. Actually, no matter how many more birthdays I have, I will always think of him as older and wiser.
Three years ago we had a big party for my 40th. I wore a very tight, red dress and invited all of our closest friends, not just for me, but to see Kaz. He was still doing fairly well then. It was an incredible night, forever immortalized in the many photos that people took. For some, it was the last time they saw him looking like himself.
The next two birthdays (without him) were more subdued. I turned 41 six months after he passed, while sitting in the rain at Occupy Oakland with a friend. The event had started only the day before (October 10, 2011). We sat on the plastic-covered steps of Frank H. Ogawa Plaza while my friend's 4 year-old daughter stomped nearby puddles in her red rubber boots. Something about the wet, serious, anonymous yet congenial atmosphere felt appropriate. I was surrounded by people but not required to talk. Tears blended with the rain.
I don't even remember what I did for 42. I just remember thinking, "This is how old he was when diagnosed."
This year I feel stronger, more hopeful and grateful than before. Not coincidentally, the blog is almost 1 year old (on October 18) and my dog's adoption date is a week after that. When I reflect on this past year, it was a year well-lived, a year of getting my "sea legs" back, so to speak.
The puppy and I lived for a month in Vermont. I made significant progress with the memoir. The blog was Freshly Pressed, and I've made many new blogging friends since then. I bought a new car, and drove my father's Porsche. I got back in the kitchen after almost two years of not cooking. I interviewed for a writer's gig, and even though I didn't get it, the interview taught me a lot. I have steadily trained my puppy and hope we can take the Canine Good Citizen test before the end of the year.
The future looks bright as well. I just started a Television Pilot writing class. I've hired an editor to cut a new director's reel. I'm updating my resume and making plans to possibly (finally) move out of Los Angeles. I'm also planning on taking a few months off to finish the memoir. All in all, life is good at the moment. I couldn't have said that last year, or even six months ago. But life is like that, ever changing, moving and molding, like water.
A friend gave me a birthday card with a peacock on the cover. I've been so drawn to this image that I had to look up its symbolism. In doing so, I found this blog post that lists several meanings and their origin.
From The Meaning of Symbols.com: The peacock is a symbol of immortality because the ancients believed that the peacock had flesh that did not decay after death... The peacock naturally replaces his feathers annually; as such, the peacock is also a symbol of renewal.
Renewal. That is what I'm feeling these days. May this year be the Year of the Peacock.
my friend's card