We are Here

Poppa turned 100 today. On the way to his party, with Nathan the 15 year old in the car, Lilly the 8 year old, me the 49 year old and Poppa the 100 year old, on the freeway, going to Burbank. The car next to us popped a tire and suddenly was swerving and spinning like a 2000 pound deadly ice skater right in front of us. All I'm thinking is I can't kill Poppa on the way to his birthday. I move the car over a lane like there's not this huge tragedy right in front of me, and the other car somehow misses us and spins and slams into the freeway wall as we watch. And keep going.

We keep going. Because we are on the freeway, going 60 miles an hour.

Poppa is still okay. My whole body is burning. My kids are in the car. What if Nathan had been driving? What if the ending had been anything but us still driving, alive.

Poppa, in the front seat, saw none of it. The kids and I are all completely wild with fear and horror and Poppa says "What day is it?"

We all got to have another day. I hope the guy in the other car was okay. I hope everyone is okay tonight.

I am feeling lucky for having just one more day. I'm stringing them all together and calling them my life. I'm not done with having this awkward and curious thing, this life.

Anyway, here is the video Nathan and I made about what it's like to be 100 years old. It's nine minutes of Poppa, and all the wisdom he had to tell us about being 100 on his birthday. We laughed a lot making the video. It was maybe the most fun I've had all year. And I'm still here, we're here!



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UkEFLVv6BE&feature=youtu.be