Spring arrived and is now blessing us with all the wonderful signs of new life. I was born in the Spring and my mother often told me it was very hot that year. Born on a Sunday in 1954 and this year my birthday is on a Sunday again. Sunday’s Child is full of Grace…… I am not sure if that is true of me or not. I just know that Spirituality has been at the centre of my life for as long as I can remember. It has taken on many different forms over the years as I have matured and broadened my perspective. Still I never lost my faith or if I did it was short lived.

Spring keeps hope alive and boy do we need it these days with all the ways we are being restricted and our lives so drastically affected by the presence of a virus that is so smart and so invasive it has caught the world by surprise and has many of us scrambling just to stay alive.

For me, this is a time of multiple opportunities to determine what I want my life to look and feel like. Often before my birthday I have a strong feeling of things in my life coming to an end. Sometimes it is a relationship, a job or maybe even the death of a loved one. I lost two family members very close to my birthday over the years. I have also been blessed with the birth of one son and three grandchildren close to my birthday. The cycle of life.

So this time of year we call “birthday season”. There are 22 people in my family including my sister, her children and grandchildren, me and my children and grandchildren and all the son and daughter in laws. Of that crew there are 11 birthdays between April 1 and May 10. That is half the people all celebrating together. Now if you are into Astrology at all that means a lot of Aries and Tauras’ people. I also have 5 dear friends who celebrate their birthday in May so I am kept busy keep track of everyone’s special day. I like to send cards out and when I am able a special gift. We Tauras’ are very loyal friends and stick together.

I am always amazed at how much comes up for me around my birthday. I am showered with birthday wishes, gifts and cards as well messages of love and compassion. Over the years it has been a wonder to me that so many people remember my birthday. When I was still living in Victoria I would have a birthday gathering of friends where we ate and celebrated all our birthdays. Food was the main attraction. I loved doing it because so many of my friends came from different places in my life and often did not know each other. The fun was watching them all interact and discover how they knew me. Over the years they became familiar with each other and looked forward to the annual get together. It was such a delight for me.

The year I turned 65 I moved back to Ontario to be closer to my daughter and her family and closer to Berlin where my son and his family live. It cuts 5 hours from the flight time to fly from Toronto than from Victoria. Sadly my trip last year planned to celebrate all our birthdays together was cancelled by COVID. So I wait patiently now for to visit them. For now I am happy to FACETIME and chat on the phone though it is a poor substitute for holding them in my arms. Long distance relationships whether with family or friends can have their challenges and in these times we can be grateful for all the technological advances.

I hope you are finding the joy and wonder Spring offers us and that you continue to have hope for a better future.