How to spend your first birthday without your Mom

How I spent my first birthday without my mother:

Our birthdays were twenty five years and one week apart, and for the past decade, less the past two years, we took a celebratory trip together. We went to Kripalu together one year (yes, Mom had a yoga practice, as do I. She did the restorative weekend, and I did an inversions intensive. We were both very relieved that Kripalu had coffee.) We went to England one year. M. came too! We did things like that.

This year, I traveled only an hour, to the Chattahoochee Valley Writers’ Conference at the Columbus, Ga public library, which is a fabulous library that she loved, and I do too.

I gave a fun talk about surprising ways to do research for your writing. I met some really nice people, and saw a few old friends. And Joshilyn Jackson kindly kept my intellect firing on all cylinders, which is a particularly helpful distraction technique for a driving person hoping she doesn’t cry while driving very fast on I-85.

And then my wonderful husband M. ordered take-out and the entire 2nd season of “Homeland.”

Way to be, new kind of birthday!