I’m sitting on the closed lid of a toilet in a moving train and try to count the wrinkles in my face as I’ve now officially passed the 40-year mark.
I’m also trying to draw an eyebrow onto my face, but it’s proving to be quite a challenge under aforementioned conditions.
I imagine the train rocking again and my hand making a run for my ear, taking my drawn eyebrow with it – I giggle.
As I do so, I hear strange sounds coming through the door that separates the tiny bathroom from the luxury train compartment I’m currently habitating – me and Jay are on our way (literally) to Vienna to celebrate my birthday In Style 🙌
In wonder I ask Jay what’s happening, but the only answer I receive is more rustling sounds.
Curious, and a little apprehensive, I leave my wrinkles and eyebrows alone and open the bathroom door.
And there, I stand amazed. I’ve never felt more birthday-y. Or loved.
James A. Garfield
“If wrinkles must be written upon our brows, let them not be written upon the heart. The spirit should never grow old.”
Our cabin has been expertly decorated with banner buntings in all colours! And amidst them, throning our cabin bed, is a beaming Jay.
I can’t stop smiling when he asks me if I like them.
As I hug him tight and thank him for his attentiveness, something dawns on me. A realisation hits:
Life is not about how old you can get. It’s about how young you can stay.
Regardless of any wrinkles, or the amount of birthdays, or whatever crosses your path.
Life is about staying young at heart, and enjoying the ride as long as it lasts.
The next morning, as the train pulls into Austria’s capital city, Jay asks me if we should keep the banners.
We do.
Life gets serious enough as it is. Enjoy all the moments, however small, as you can, while you can ❤️
