Pie

My birthday. I've invited some friend over for coffee and, on my birthday, a traditional rhubarb pie. For me this day is always special, not only for the occasion but also for all greetings from long-away friends, family and old students, some from very long ago which brings back memories from a productive life. It seems I did some things right anyway. In my moments of self-doubt, I only have to go back to my birthday greetings.

My coffee-party went well, the pie was successful and soon I will plunge back into thanking for the greetings that has come in. Each greeting demands a moment of contemplation, some more, some less, depending on how well I remember the person and the context. I love these moments of reconnecting. Somewhere I read: "they might have forgotten what you said or did but they remember how you made them feel", which is, when I think back on my own teachers through the years, a true sentence and I'm grateful for the greetings I get.