Right here is the information she delivered from Rancho La Puerta, the spa she started out in Tecate, Mexico, with her spouse when she was 17 years old.—Chaz Ebert
Indeed, Currently is My 100th Birthday
by Deborah Szekely
I awoke early at Rancho La Puerta, listening for the appears of some thing taking place on the garden outdoors my casita just as I did when Sarah and Alex were being minor. “Shush,” I would whisper to them. “Let us get dressed!” Back again then, we authorized vehicles on the home, so I could listen to numerous doors currently being shut gently. Personnel members were arriving. Tables ended up staying set up with significant pots of warm chocolate. The tamales and conchas were prepared.
At 7:00 a.m., I arrived out the front doorway even now in my bathrobe (a custom) and was greeted by a mariachi band in whole voice, trumpet echoing off the hills, large bass guitar thumping, violins keening. The patio experienced been turned into a bower of flowers. And a single pricey friend, José Lupe, has introduced me one rose for each 12 months of my existence since I was in my 30s. What a excellent way to start out the working day!
Dew was on the grass. The dawn slanted toward Mt. Kuchumaa, painting it a muted, mystical indigo. Many hundred voices broke into singing Las Mañanitas, the Mexican custom at birthdays.
Despierta, mi bien, despierta. Wake up, my darling, wake up.
Amidst all the greetings and savoring incredibly hot chocolate and conchas, I realized: I am a statistic and a curiosity—only 1.73 of us (of me!) for each 10,000 individuals reside this extended. 100! To me, it’s only a selection on paper. I simply cannot accept it. In no way can I be 100!
My gratitude for my extensive existence is inexpressible. The amount, however, will make no feeling to me. Right here I am at 100, but I however sense like the youthful lady who arrived in this article with Edmond in 1940. I even now make limitless selections in my everyday living, massive and little. There is nevertheless so a great deal predicted of me, and I assume a fantastic offer from myself. I am fully unprepared for becoming this “previous.” For a single factor, so several people arrive up to me and check with what my mystery is, what words and phrases of wisdom I can share. And I am speechless.
