Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Six Turning Seven

"My birthday is tomorrow," whispered my little friend.

"How wonderful," I replied. "How old will you be?"

"Seven," she responded. "But I am only a little happy."

"Why is that?" I asked.

"Well, when I turned six, I had six letters in my name and I am the sixth person in my family. And tomorrow, it will all be ruined."

A tragedy in her little eyes, turning seven, while so many of us wish we could be seven again.

In her eyes, her life was changing. She will learn, as most of us have, that when one door closes another one will open. She will discover that seven has as many blessings as six, if not more. Tomorrow, she will receive gifts, cake and well wishes. Hopefully before long, her woes brought on by the changes that come with life on the earth, will be a foggy memory embraced in joy.

I wish my little friend a wonderful birthday filled with happiness. For the rest of us, I wish the growing knowledge that with every change, no matter how painful or tragic the change may seem, there will be an open invitation to embrace a new day filled with the gifts of hope and wonder and maybe even a little cake.

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