Make a wish...

My birthday is in 25 days. If you know me, I've ALWAYS been excited about my birthday and this birthday is no exception. 41 trips around the sun. 41 sunkissed summers. 41 birthdays. Cinco de Mayo (my fantastically chosen birth date) has always been THE kickoff to summer. 

As a child, it meant summer vacation was right around the corner meaning I could curl up in sunny spots of the carpet in my family's living room and read as long as I wanted, I could hop on my bike and ride the trails the neighborhood kids and I so diligently built between neighbors yards and the other neighborhood that backed up to ours, I could play HORSE with my best friend and her brother's older hotter friends in her driveway with her brother teaching me to aim within the square and how to shoot with follow through to make that "swoosh NOTHIN BUT NET baaaaaby" every. single. time. I would kick off my sneakers and tiptoe from stone to stone pretending the small creek that separated neighborhoods was a river that if we followed it long enough would lead us to the beach. Summer also meant "beach week" and as I got older, it also meant my sister would have to go to my granny and father's home in Alexander City, Alabama.

As a teen/young adult I spent summer's in friends pools soaking up the sun by day and skinny dipping at night; slipping shots of whatever was in their parent's liquor cabinet as liquid courage. Before my county enacted a strict curfew for teenagers, the teens of my generation (along with myself) would cruise the backroads, windows down, hands surfing the velvety warm Georgia breeze while cicadas threatened to deafen us from the woods lining the roads. There were bonfires, sleepovers, basement parties... my birthday was the gate opening wide to surrender me to the wild of summer.

Now as an adult with a 9-5, the transition from my birthday to summer means I no longer need to wake up at 5 am if I want to attempt getting ready for work before getting all 3 kids to the bus stop. I can sleep in till 6:30 or whenever the cats or Lou wake me for breakfast. I can work through my lunch to earn that much needed overtime whereas I have to come in early and take extra long lunches to get the 1st kid off the bus and then wait for the 2nd kid to drag their feet through the door. I can run on a much more consistent schedule after work because the structure of our evening schedules are much more relaxed. The kids can swim while I'm at work since I'm only a few dozen feet from the poolside and they can walk themselves to/from our apartment where they'll inevitably eat through all the snacks I purchased to last 2 weeks in a matter of a few days. We *might* get a beach trip in this year, but with everyone being so financially strapped (thanks inflation!) it's getting harder and harder to envision my toes being sucked under the sand as the waves roll over my feet. I want to promise my kids a beach trip, but I know better than to make promises. Especially promises that require relying on other adults. My children know I don't make promises unless I am solely responsible for the outcome. That's a trauma response for another day and we ain't got time for that today.

I don't normally make wishes on my birthday candles, but if I did...

I'd wish that this summer included a beach trip.

I'd wish that the beach trip would be back on the Georgia Coast again.

I'd wish that there was no drama amongst adults over children being allowed to enjoy the trip however they want as it's their vacation as well.

I'd wish that other parental units would step up and show up for their kids, and not just their partner's kids because they're physically in front of him at the time.

I'd wish for my kids to know just how much they are loved and cherished and how in awe I am of their imagination, talents and determination to become something greater.

I'd wish cats lived forever and that the cats I've been lucky enough to have in my life would live with me forever and ever.

I'd wish for a stable and more reasonable housing market so nobody could go without a roof over their head or stress that their roof may be taken from them.

I'd wish for contentment and peace for everyone, not just myself and those I love.

I'd wish to have the instant ability to be the best friend possible forever and always as well as the ability to make and keep friends.

I'd wish for grandparents to hang around in our hearts forever, whispering secrets and guidance when we need it most.

I'd wish for a million, thousand both practical and impractical magic wishes that always came true no matter the insanity of the wish itself.