The morning didn’t start off as great. I was fighting a cold, which I blamed for a random moodiness, and was hungry after skipping breakfast.
But a call with my dad during lunch snapped me out of the funk. He reminisced on the day I was born and how bright my eyes were that day – echoing the bright-eyed sentiment my mother had put in her card to me. In that moment I remembered it ain’t all about me. I gotta keep smiling because there are people who need a little light. It hit me again later that night when I found out someone who doesn’t even like me, was reading this here blog.
Even when the headlines hurt and the phone doesn’t ring, I’m shooting to stay bright-eyed for 25 more years and beyond.
And to celebrate making it to 25, here are 10 of my favorite memories of love.
10) “So just forget about you and me?”
I always remember that line from “Love and Basketball” when Monica and Quincy break up in college. Sure her losing in the basketball game for his affection and him coming back with “double or nothing” is sweet. But what made their happy ending appealing, was the fight it took to get there. Their story is a great lesson on no matter how great a connection, timing really is everything.
9) Holy night
There I was. A happy fourth grader on the playground when the unthinkable happened. Not only was the skirt of my uniform flipped up on my back, but the kids were laughing at the hole in my underwear. Thankfully, kids have short memories. And my mom played along like it really was the end of the world. i still remember feeling she was so sorry that somehow those old undies made it out the house. Though now I know she was fighting back the laughs, she felt my pain when it mattered most.
8)Outside the Box
Sitting at my Grandmom’s wake, I heard things about her I never knew. Like how she integrated the surgical technician team at the hospital she worked as both Black and a Woman. I knew her for making the best chocolate cakes, braiding the tightest cornrows, giving the sweetest kisses (especially late at night when her dentures were out:) and making clothes smell and feel like the sweetest and softest cotton. But hearing tales of her life before retiring made me sit up straighter. I also remembered we’ve got so many other sides. And to take more time to go beneath the surface
7)My girls!
I have been blessed with SO many amazing and strong women in my life I am not the girl who doesnt have female friends. They keep me striving and the support to dream big.
6) Maybe Parents Do Understand
Part of getting older is that big transition of your parents going from your lifeline to real people. And Ive learned so much from talking to them, especially when it comes to relationships. They got married out of college at 23 and 24 and divorced a little over ten years later. Hearing how things went wrong, helps me try to do things right.
For the other 5, including how my boyfriend got slick on crossing the "I love you" bridge, click here
always a delight to read your blog :)