As the months trickled down for me to celebrate my 35th birthday, I contemplated on how I wanted to spend it. Turning 35 wasn't JUST another birthday, it had great significance to me. And I had to celebrate in the way ONLY I knew fit.
Sharing a birthday in the same month with baby Jesus hasn't always been a fun thing for me...He took all the shine :) .... folks would either be too busy caught up in the spirit of the season and not have the time and money to celebrate with me. So for many years I've learned to just let it be, with the exceptance of one or two years. My 30th, and last year.
I've even had to go through the day with some forgetting that it was my birthday. At age 35, it wasn't going to happen. I was doing it MY way, and MY way ONLY. No one was going to disappoint me on this day. NO ONE. NO BB. NO TEXT. NO EMAIL. NO FB. NO TWITTER.
So I thought long and hard as to how to celebrate. All I know I wanted to celebrate it alone, refelcting, and at peace with this milestone year of mine. I searched online for get away spots. Hotels...I figured the more expensive, the more luxurious my stay. Then i thought of a spa. I've always wanted to go to Arizona. I had found a great spa out there over the summer, but with my new job, time off was out of the question. Maybe I can stay at home and relax...I did that last year when I moved (moving out of Brooklyn to Maryland was my gift to myself)...didn't want to do a repeat. BUT staycation was definitely the order. But where???
Over the summer my BFF @janellewilliams and I talked about Akwaaba. And it hit me. THAT'S IT...I'd go after work and spend the weekend there...and that I did. I did the research on the hip and modern bed and breakfast, and was only impressed to find out that their rooms were designed and named after poets and writers. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Really? This DEFINITELY was the place for me to celebrate my 35th. It was meant to be.
There was the Toni Morrison room, The Langston Hughes, The Walter Mosley...and I was in awe. Though late in the night the eeriness of Langston Hughes' voice from the collection of his poems that I have on disc....howled in the hallways at night...yeah I was scared shitless LOL... nontheless I was happy to be there.
As I WELCOME my 35th year of life, there was no better place for me to spend my time reflecting, and celebrating the victories I have won. I acclaim 35. I embrace it. I'm going to breathe it. I'm going to nurture it. I will master it. And I will live it. I totally intend to live it.
I spent 2 days at AkwaabaDC. My housekeeper Joanne, was so hospitable. From her welcome, her smile, her engaging conversation about the history of Akwaaba...she knew that home inside out, and to the exciting are of Dupont Circle and U Street...which I have visited quite a few times already. Joanne was more than a house keeper, she was an unknown, yet welcomed guest into MY space at Akwaaba. Her pleasantess will make me return very soon.
Remember that Akwaaba means welcome and indeed it welcomes everyone. I had the pleasure of meeting a very vibrant lady, Mary. She held a trunk show at Akwaaba on Saturday, and I bought the cutest pair of earrings and a dress that I'm aching to wear. Over breakfast I had the privilege of meeting an Australian couple who couldn't stop talking about the ambiance of Akwaaba. And I couldn't help but agree, and co-sign with everything they were saying. We all had a great conversation about life, and marriage and children, and traveling and living. I was the single mom, Mary was a well traveled, happily married mother, and the Australian couple were new to marriage and parenthood.
They found me to be rather inspiring. A single mom, living through what must be a very trying situation...and though it is I assured them that "I think I've mastered it well enough to no longer consider myself a single mom, but a mom who lives for her son"...I am not alone.
Turning 35 is such a special moment for me, that there aren't any words I can use to truly convey my emotions.
This world we live in is structured for us to fail. We're challenged everyday. Tested everyday, reminded everyday that there's a hurdle to get over. And I've jumped over everyone, and I've survived. And I'm proud.
I can see my destiny unfold before me and I know that my steps are guided. I was born to be someone great...I feel it in my bones... But I am yet to brave it and let her be born.
The year of the 35. I feel empowered. I feel womanly. I feel brave. I feel motherly. I feel I can love till there's no more love to give...I've encountered it, lost it, mourned it, and I am IT. I am LOVE and I welcome it in all its forms.
I've released a lot of things and people and their aura and their burden and their lumps of coals that sat on my back, and chest and heart and mind. They wore me down. I let them wear me down. But no more. I release it all.
The year of the 35 is flowing with forgiveness. But never a step back into relationships of the abyss.
Though this is an intimate journey for me, I wish ALL of you your very own year of the 35 ... its meaning is far more than my birthday, but a step into a different type of confidence and boldness about personal happiness.
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