It’s My Birthday and I’m Hungry

It’s my birthday and I’m hungry.

I’m ravenous, in fact. 

I’m hungry for more moments with family and friends.

I’m hungry for more moments when the beautiful perfection of nature is proof of God beyond all doubt, like the magnificence of the waterfall where my parents became engaged.

I’m hungry for more opportunities to buy local, like the Palisade peaches I just had in Colorado, putting my financial support as close to the grower as possible by patronizing farmers’ markets. 

I’m hungry for more evenings when nostalgia and new memories are dance partners.

I’m hungry for more times when the sweet beauty of people acting in concert brings that telltale sentimental lump to my throat and moistens my eyes, like high school band students marching in formation while playing rousing tunes, or fourth graders singing off-key in choir, or members of a community coming together to support one another after a crisis. 

I’m hungry for more opportunities to support colleagues and friends as a part of their success team, and to help them see their strength and abilities the way I do. 

I’m hungry for more stories that highlight the contributions to society of people who are often invisible, like social workers or schoolteachers or music teachers or public servants, where the recipients of their toil and talents will remember them decades later and reference the incredible impact on their lives. 

I’m hungry for a more understanding world in which we can have a dialogue when we disagree and hate speech is no more.

I’m hungry for a commute in the car where I hear no stories of hate crimes on news radio, because they’re a thing of the past. 

I’m hungry for more moments with grandchildren in which their innocence and curiosity bring powerful reflections to my life of over six decades and a new, bright, shiny lens with which I can view the world. 

I’m hungry for a greater appreciation of music and art as fundamental components of a happy life and a functioning world. 

I’m hungry for sustained intellectual curiosity to help me continue to grow and expand my understanding of the world and it’s possibilities, of people and their possibilities, of myself and my own possibilities. 

I’m hungry for more stories about food memories that bind families together.

I’m hungry for the soul-soothing beauty of sunlight sparkles on water, fire-sky sunsets and mountain silhouettes.

I’m hungry for a society in which a person’s gender is their own business, and their heart is what we judge them by. 

I’m hungry for a time where we aren’t judged by our age, but by our abilities.

I’m hungry for mindfulness and the peace it can bring to my life.

I’m hungry for walkable and cycling cities in the US in the ways that they already exist in Europe.

I’m hungry for more breathtaking moments in which our next-gen family members become my mentors, showing me the way and illustrating that our future is in good hands.

I’m hungry for more authenticity in every way, in every situation, in every person.

I’m ravenous, in fact.

But I will be fed. We will be fed together.

You are there for me. I am there for you.

© 2024, Glover Gardens