Birthday note - 6/6

Ciao mi amore’s -

Today is my birthday!  I’m not saying that just to get BD responses from you - ok, maybe just a little…  I love my birthday.  It is my favorite day of the year because it is a confirmation that I am still here, walking and talking and breathing and feeling and hoping and cursing and loving and struggling and stumbling and winning and losing. Baby, I am LIVING!     I am a vibrant, loving, caring, joyful creature who knows that I am on the right path and that it will always lead me home.  Home to myself, home to my friends and home to my family – both the one I was born into and the one that I choose as my own as I make my way through this life.      

I am thankful for everything in my life – all of it including the bad stuff because it too has taught me so much.  I am thankful for my inner strength and toughness.  I am thankful for my endless sense of wonder.  I am thankful for the love of music that my Mother instilled in my heart.  I am thankful for being able to see sunsets, sunrises, the ocean, the mountains, flowers, fireworks, and Tom Jones in concert before his facelift…   I am thankful for not being allergic to red wine.  I am thankful for being born to the father that I was and to have him as my loving guide and counselor, even now as he continues to live in my heart.  I am thankful for my baby brother John because he was the one that followed me around and looked up to me!   I am thankful to have been born in Hershey, PA and to get to live in a time when children were sent outdoors to play for hours on end without fear or constraints.  Shoot, my Mother used to lock the screen door after us and you couldn’t get back in unless you were bleeding or had to use the bathroom…  I am thankful for UTZ cheese balls from Hanover, PA.  I’ve done a lot of research in this area and they really are the best of all the cheese puff snacks…   Listen – I’m just saying….  I am thankful for not being lactose intolerant – because I love milk…   I really, REALLY love milk!   I am thankful that my taste buds continue to change and I now eat things that I never thought I would – my waistband isn’t always thankful, but my soul is…  I am thankful for the special gift that was given to me, my singing voice.   And I am thankful for Second City in Chicago, and Stephanie McCullough Vlcek, as both helped me to get over my fear of performing so I can sometimes share my gift with others.   

And I am thankful for your love.  I figured out long ago that I am made complete by those I surround myself with.  I take the pieces of you that I love and try to incorporate them within myself to make me a better me.  You and the love you give so freely to me has become a part of my being.  Thank you, thank you, thank you… 

Now – where are my presents?  Huh?  Wadda mean you can’t ship them to Italy!!!!  Oh curses….   I did have a few to unwrap this morning due to sneaky people who slipped things into my luggage when I wasn’t looking.  Thank you, Mom!  Thank you, Pamm!  Did you really think I wouldn’t have my own wine bottle opener by this time in my journey?  Sista, you taught me better than that…  Thank you, Marilee!  And to all the rest of you, thank you – I am feeling your loving BD wishes and vibes all the way over here.     Now I am off to have a great day of walking the streets of Siena - up and down hills, and up and down steps.  Great googley moogley - thank you Aleve!!!

-xoxo - Linda, aka Linda Lou, aka Linda K, aka Linder, aka Ws (dubs)

Ciao!