Walking4Air

“Dear God,” she prayed, “let me be something every minute of every hour of my life. Let me be gay; let me be sad. Let me be cold; let me be warm. Let me be hungry…have too much to eat. Let me be ragged or well dressed. Let me be sincere – be deceitful. Let me be truthful; let me be a liar. Let me be honorable and let me sin. Only let me be something every blessed minute. And when I sleep, let me dream all the time so that not one little piece of living is ever lost.” ~ Betty Smith

Last Saturday night I had a date with my gorgeous baby girl nieces, Emma (5) and Kate (3). They are the absolute light of my life and even thought it was a Saturday night, I was thrilled to be spending it looking after them as their parents went out for a night on the town.

We almost always end up playing hide-and-seek but this night was different. Emma, had learnt a new game and naturally Kate and I had to play. When she told me what the game was I laughed as I was transported straight back into my own childhood for we were about to play “I wrote a letter to my love” ~ I hadn’t played that in years but instantly I remember all the words! For those who don’t know you sit in a circle and one child walks around the outside of the circle with an object of sorts in their hand while everyone sings the song:

“I wrote a letter to my love

And on the way I dropped it

And someone must have picked it up and put it in his pocket.

It wasn’t me, it wasn’t you, it was me, it wasn’t you…”

The child walking around the circle then drops the object behind someone’s back, tapping them on the should shouting out “It’s you” and the child (or adult in this case) must jump up with the object in hand and so a full on chase begins around the outside of the circle until the child been chased sits down. Then the new person with the object starts all over again. Needless to say, I got a good exercise workout that night, running around chasing the girls and playing these “kid” games with them. I had a ball!!!

Today, as I celebrate turning another year older, I smile as today is all about a celebration about being young at heart even as I grow up and grow older. As my mom has continued cleaning out the cupboards in her house, she keeps surprising me when I visit with goodies from way-back when.

A letter from me to Father Christmas ~ the beginning of not believing!

A letter from me to the Tooth Fairy! Even in my young age, I was always giving something back.

I didn’t have much luck as a kid giving my teeth to the Tooth Fairy, as ultimately something would always go wrong…!

Playing out in the yard one evening my brother and I collided and my tooth fell out. We lost it in the grass somewhere and couldn’t find it. This was my letter to the Tooth Fairy. We never did find it!

I have always been an unrelenting optimist, even as a young kid, here a letter to my mom with a picture I drew for her.

Yes, I was the eternal optimist and am happy to say, I still am!

My trip down memory lane was in the form of old letters I had written to the tooth fairy and Father Christmas, letters to my parents and old note books from my first years at school. Life certainly was simple back then. It was all about living in the moment, simple pleasures and believing in fairy tales.

Yes, life growing up back then was simple.

Joy was found in the smallest things.

Yes, life was good.

Avril Lavigne sings it best “Here’s to never growing up” ~ I couldn’t agree more. I always want to believe in fairy tales and happy endings and all those wonderful child-like things.

I pay bills, I go to work, I even study part-time. I cook dinner. I wash dishes. I pay tax and I even do the ironing. I am, mostly, as responsible as you can get. But I also love things that make me feel five years old again. I love to feel the wind in my hair as I fly through the air doing some new crazy stunt, I love being caught in the rain and laughing so hard it begins to hurt.  I love eating ice-cream for supper, climbing really tall trees and leaping so very high that grown-up hearts flutter in terror.  I love getting crazy, rolling in the dirt and playing outside till late. I love starting to dance. Twirling, jumping, and spinning around till I feel dizzy all because a piece of music started playing. I love lying on the grass watching the clouds go by until the stars come out.  I never want to stop experiencing the thrill of life and discovering this beautiful world we live in and feeling the feelings when everything feels raw and invigorating and scary.

So here is to never growing up!

Here’s to child-like wonder.

Here’s to exploring like I’m seeing everything for the first time.

Here’s to living in the moment and having a blast.

Here’s to wishing that you all too remain young at heart.

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This post has been pre-set to go off today as I am currently out living life! As we speak, I am out hiking, climbing another mountain ~ doing what I love best. Later, I will be spending the afternoon with my nearest and dearest celebrating another fabulous year in the life of Lara!

~ So Happy Birthday to Me, may my next year be even more epic than my last year! ~

~ All letters and drawings by me and most photos by my parents ~