A Birthday Present

Congratulations Mom and Dad!

It's a baby girl!
January 4, 1963 (Friday)
7 lbs. 4 oz
52 cm (length)
36cm (head circumference)
35cm (chest circumference)

Delivered by Dr. Merle Adriano
Assisted by Ms. Gloria Lao and Ms. Leticia Gustilo

There's a lot of things I could want for my birthday. Whatever it is, it will just be stuff that will leave me wanting for more. Also, I am a very hard person to surprise. Co-workers have tried to surprise me in the past with a party. They must have planned it too well because I had no idea it was for me and I did not show up. Oh well.

Every now and then, Randy will come up with something totally unexpected, something I don't really need or want. But all the same it leaves me breathless, choked up... even teary-eyed. This year, somehow, even with the boys home for Christmas break he found the time to go to the local pottery place and hand painted a dish for me, the color and what was painted on it dear to my heart. Yes, the kanji on the plate you see in the picture stands for "heart" or mind and soul, whatever my context of the moment is, as a dear friend would say.

I was surfing... no let me be honest... I was letting my husband surf the net for me looking for the kanji (or Chinese character) for mindfulness, my soapbox. I stumbled upon this kanji instead and instantly fell in love with it because of its simplicity and what it stood for. More so when a friend explained how it is pronounced (Zen pronounced as "shin" ). The more I looked at it, the more it came to life. I saw the face of a panda, and a facedown, modified letter Z which I thought was a good representation of ZenSue aspiring towards the virtue of humility.

And so Randy had Jared ask me what my favorite color is, which is green, the color of the heart chakra (that's a whole other world) and uses it as the color for the plate. Unknowingly he picks a white round background for the kanji itself. What do you know... my qi gong instructor has always encouraged me to visualize my chi/qi as a round white pearl. Truly nothing that ever happens in our life is a coincidence. Or an accident. On the other hand - synchronicity and serendipity grabs me everywhere I look.

Perhaps the plate will shatter one day... but what it stands for will always be kept safe. In my heart.

Another year... another birthday. You get to a point in your life you realize presents take on a different meaning. The present is my present. And whoever I'm sharing it with at the moment. No matter what the context is. And I already had them all along. My family, my friends, my moments, and all the connections I've made... they are my gifts.

Susan was born 47 years ago. As to how ZenSue came to be...that's a whole other story.

Baby girl is doing well...thanks, Mom and Dad. And Happy Birthday me. :)