There are days that are just muddled through. Days where at the end I sigh, and say to myself, “I made it through again.” There are days that go unnoticed and unremembered. We remember the good, we remember the bad, but I think too often we forget the living that happens in-between.

I celebrate yesterday’s living by remembering today.

Yesterday was not extraordinary.

I slept in, went to work, had a late lunch and got my winter clothes out of storage.

Then I remembered to live.

My friend and I went out to eat. We decided to get an appetizer and a desert. On the menu we found corn meal-rolled-deep-fried pickles and jalapenos. (This, you must admit is living.) Because my friend knew the waiter, we also got a free order of chips and salsa and finished off our meal with a deep fried cherry pie alamode. This is living with no concern for that night’s bellyache or tomorrow’s not fitting into my jeans.

Afterwards we went to our weekly community group meeting, and told our stories. Following the meeting, we all went to a fifties diner for milkshakes. White-rhinestone-jumpsuit-seven-foot-tall-Elvis was performing. As a matter of fact it was his birthday, and his entire fan club (spearheaded by his mama) was present for the celebration. Elvis sang “Amazing Grace,” because he loves Jesus, and we joined the fan club to sing “Happy Birthday,” because they love Elvis (and we just happened to be there).

There had been mention earlier in the evening about an old graveyard near my apartment complex. It was a place for unwed mothers, illegitimate children and orphans to be buried at the turn of the century. I wanted to see it. And what better time is there to visit such a place than a crisp, three quarter moon, mid October evening between the hours of 11:00 and midnight?

Sometimes living means visiting the dead, remembering the forgotten, pushing away dead leaves and grass from 100 year old graves. Sometimes it means wondering who mourned for Josephine, Edward, Lura and infant 17. Living means remembering our collective pasts, forgiving our collective mistakes, celebrating our collective present and anticipating our future together.

Yesterday was a good day to live.