Signs

I’m a believer in “signs”.  I believe if something is supposed to happen and it doesn’t, or an event gets in the way of the direction you’re heading, there’s a reason.

I turned 50 about a month ago, and my daughter bought me about 6 or 7 balloons for the surprise party that my children had planned for me. Two mylar balloons and 4 latex.  We brought the balloons home from the party and put them in the corner of our living room.  They’ve been there close to a month.  Now if you know anything about balloons and helium, you know that helium stays longer in the mylar balloons.  I’m sure there are reasons for that, probably something to do with porosity, but it’s not important enough for me to look up, so I’ll just go with that.

Getting back to the “signs”.  It appears that I have record breaking latex balloons.  These babies do not want to die.  They refuse to deflate.  They are floating proud.  One of the mylar balloons has all but deflated, lying helplessly on the floor.  And the other mylar, still filled but slowly losing it’s energy, it’s “mojo” so to speak.

And yes, I’m referring to balloons as having “mojo”.

Like me.

And so I look at this revelation, these somewhat innocent, inflated decorations and think to myself, “this is MY life”!  I’m down 50 years, with 50 more still to go.  But not quite 50, as that mylar is deflating as well, albeit at a much slower pace.  Yet I still have those incredible “Ripleys Believe it or Not” latex balloons defying all odds.  Eluding the inevitable.  Standing proud among their known rivals.

I opened my email this morning and found a delivery from my mom.  Strangely, it contained a story from Chicken Soup for the Soul, Daily Inspirations.  Mom preempted the story with her own thoughts, specifically the idea that “signs” are all around us.

I wasn’t sure what I was going to write about for my first excerpt as a new blogger.

But I guess all the signs were there….