Thursday, April 26, 2007

Birthday Holla...!

Today is Donna's birthday...! Happy Day, Donna! Some of you guys might not know her the way that I do so I thought I'd pay homage to one of the world's very best cousins:

D. has always been the embodiment of cool. She is the person who modelled the importance of pop culture trivia---an example which Lyman and I clearly embraced enthusiastically. She could name every record label, producer and year of release-- all of those details -- for the music that she loved. She knows more about movies and actors than almost anyone I've ever known. But she's a pushover: she rarely dislikes any film (or anyone). But you can rely on this: if Donna says a movie sucks, it really, really does. She's a fierce Trivial Pursuit and Scrabble player. I haven't played Euchre with her in years but I imagine she's good at that, too.

I've been trying to remember; I think she's about 15 years older than me. That made her the most cool teenager to my awestruck younger years. She never left the house without eyeliner and mascara---not even to go to the mailbox-- a major source of frustration for the folks who just wanted the mail NOW.

She's a woman with a keen sense of adventure and confidence: at a very young age, she saved her money for a trip to Hawaii and once there, decided she was going to make it her home. And so she did---picked up and moved to Hawaii; no family, no nothing. Just her, the island, the adventure. It was a powerful statement to me: you can do whatever you want, go where you want, be what you want. No holds barred: go get what you want.

She has played a very special role in my life: my nuclear family was always very close to hers and during the years we were in Hawaii, far away from any other family, she was there with Lyman. Just as her mother might well have been my own grandmother, Donna is more of a sister than cousin. My middle daughter, Anna March, is named for both Donna March and my sister, Beth Ann. She might have mentioned that here previously...

We all know she's a great mother and grandmother, cousin, aunt, sister and friend. I remain deeply envious of her amazing network of friends spanning her entire life. I love you, Nonna March, as do so many of us. Happy Birthday.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well, isn't that special and unexpected. It made me cry at my desk. Thanks for the rememberance of the part of my now 59 years that you remember. I feel like you do about our families and maybe it was living some really good years in Hawaii where everyone is ohana (family) and there are no cousins just Aunties, Uncles, Sisters and Brothers. I had a great day and loved receiving the Keola Beamer cd yesterday. He was one of my very favorites during the 70s in Hawaii. Thank you so much.

LYFE, Nonna March

Lyman said...

can't believe I missed this post

very sweet

happy birthday momma!