MY TWENTY FIRST BIRTHDAY

my twenty first birthday

Today is my Twenty first Birthday. Though I always tell myself to live in the present, I cannot help but look back upon the yesterdays and last year was most eventful to say the least! It will always remain etched in my memory.
      First I suffered the heart-break and parted ways with Richard who I thought to be in love with me as a person but proved to be like the other boys to be interested only in physical relationship.
     Then there was that upheaval caused by my mom's sickness which shook the very roots of my family life. Due to the onslaught of cancer she  had to lose her right breast and her lustrous hair. She always had a striking resemblance with the famous Sarah Sarandon so much so hat she was often mistaken for Sara and suffered ogling glances and irritating advances and lewd touches while on the street.But cancer robbed her of that beauty and my gallant mom now feels relieved that she will no more be mistaken for Sara and won't suffer on that account!
   During her sickness I received another major jolt. One day, thinking that she won't see the next day my mom told me her well-kept secret that my dad is actually my stepfather and my biological dad died in an accident when I was only 18months old! according to her my father's only memory remains in my blue eyes. This jolt showed me the greatness of my dad as a person and also the greatness of his love for me and my mom. I am rather thankful to God that even through a tragedy he bestowed upon me he gift of this person as my stepfather who is the best father in the world! I now know why I am the only child in he family and feel indebted for that to my dad's sacrifice.
   All this was too much for me to bear. But at that time some friends came to my help. Among them most were the 'virtual' friends from the facebook world who proved far more near to my heart than my real-life friends or even close relatives. I cannot but remember them today most gratefully.
     The first and foremost is Ms. Melissa Tandoc. She has now become my 'second mom' and then there is Mr. Stuart Nager who is my 'Prospero' and I am his 'Miranda'! Then there is Ms. Alpana Jaiswal, Mohinee Puranik( who has become my sister), brotherly Monu Awalla and Sancheeta Biswas whom God has recently taken away from me.
      But most of all, two persons who helped me the most -my 'soulmate' Sandra, who has always stood by me since our childhood and Mrs. Dorothy webber, who treats me as her daughter. I work mostly for her Ad-agency but our relationship has gone much beyond that. It was she only who realised my need for an outing and hence took me with her on an assignment  to Italy which actually proved to be a rejuvenating pleasure trip for me. During that one week I visited some fabulous places like Milan,Brescia,Sirmione, Lake Garda, Verona, Venice , Paris and Louvre museum. I've written about this trip in my blogposts titled 'My Italian Job'(5th Nov.'11 to 9th Nov.'11)
     The last year's adversities taught me many lessons but I learnt mostly from my mother. Her grit, determination, and rational and practical approach towards her serious ailment taught me never to take anything in life for granted and to be always ready to face whatever comes your way. I've learnt that one should do his duty or work honestly and diligently and should not bother about the results. The journey is always more beautiful than the goal.
     Today I pray to God to help me maintain my faith in Him along with this present positive frame of mind. I pray to Him to bestow His blessings upon me by way of maintaining my good friends and lastly I pray to Him to cure my mom completely or at least give her many more healthful years because without her there will be no meaning to my life. I thank God for giving me birth from her womb!
                    -PORTIA BURTON