July Wednesday 5, 2017 Happy to be Alive by Juliana Aragon Fatula

Ok, so I turned sixty this year and didn’t celebrate due to extenuating circumstances. But this year I saved all my celebrating for the day my cousin, Barb turned sixty-sox on the Fourth of July, and my sisters, Aimee; Maria, Tracy, Judy could attend. We had so much fun last night party on the patio. Let me tell you why.

Sixty years ago I came into this world and by the time I was twenty-one I had lost one of my boyfriends from the neighborhood. By the time I hit thirty, I lost three more, forty, I lost two more, fifty, lost one more, and sixty who knows who survived from the lifestyle we chose. We played hard and we played a lot. But I never dreamed I’d be celebrating sixty. I’ve outlived three siblings and I’m happy just to be alive and able to write about my wild experiences. I lived a life in a lifetime and now that I’ve settled down, I still like to party but since I gave up drinking and acting like a fool, I’ve survived many of my friends and siblings who drank themselves literally to death.

So I celebrate for them. I sing and dance and rejoice in the world and the wonderful people in it. My friends have given me a new life. They have accepted me despite my faults and they love me as much as I love them. But the husband in this story, Vincent. Well let me say when my guests left the party last night, they all said, “He’s a great guy. I see why you’ve been married for twenty-five years. He’s hard-working and full of life.” 

He’s four years  younger than me, so maybe we’ll grow old together and he can change my diapers. Or I can change his. I would do anything for this man because he accepted me flaws and all, my dysfunctional family, my son with his battles with drugs, and he loves my friends as much as I do and he is loved by them. I couldn’t be happier as I write this. I can die happy because I’ve finally had a happy childhood. They say it’s never too late; I’m proof of that fact. I survived all of the trauma, the wild nights and crazy parties. Today I party on the patio with my friends and celebrate the gift of life that has been showered upon me. Love is the answer my friends. Love.