Born to Sapphire

September is a special month. For starters, it is the ninth month of the year even though its name comes from the word ‘Septem’ which is latin for ‘seven’. It is the month whose birthstone is Sapphire, which symbolises wisdom and purity, and whose birth flowers are forget-me-not, morning glory and aster. They say people who are born in this month are orderly, modest, diligent, analytical and self-sufficient; I don’t know about that.

Did you know that September begins on the same day of the week as December every year? Wikipedia explains that this happens because there are 91 days separating September and December, and 91 is a multiple of seven (the number of days in the week) so voila! September not only has 30 days - ok that is nothing really because April, June & November can boast of the same - but get this, no other month ends on the same day of the week as September in any year! Go ahead, check your calendars. I know you will not take my word for it. I am offended though; you don’t trust me? When have I ever lied to you? :-)

Having clarified that last year 2010, September ended on a Thursday and no other month ended on a Thursday, and that this year it ends on a Friday and no other month gets the privilege of ending on the same day can we now move on?

The two instants when the Sun is directly overhead the Equator are called the Equinoxes. These happen in the months of March and September every year. This year, the September Equinox will be experienced on September 23rd where the night and day will have approximately equal lengths.

Come September 23rd, I hope to be woken up by my alarm at 6am as always. I will get ready for work as sleepy and grumpy Hailey is prepared for school. I will take Hailey to school and then go to work, as my morning routine dictates.

Before Hailey and I leave the house, we will kiss Heidi goodbye and we will not forget to wave. She will wave back and say something close to ‘Byeee” in baby language. With her two pairs of front teeth, she will bless our day with a wide grin and keep waving and waving since this is a new ‘discovery’ she made the other day. If we are not careful to disentangle ourselves from her ‘spell’, we will be late.

Maybe on the way to school, Hailey will point out the moon that disrespectfully refuses to hide even in the overbearing presence of the sun. For three days now, Hailey has spotted the presence of the moon as I walk her to school and today she almost missed it. We stopped walking just to search for it to confirm that it had finally submitted to hiding, but there it was! Inconspicuous but very much around. I pointed it out to her and satisfied, we walked on. I saw two men look up trying to see what we were staring at.

Maybe on that day Hailey will be cheery and playful. Maybe she will run a distance ahead of me only to wait for me to catch up with her then run ahead of me again and again until we reach school or until she gets tired, whichever comes first. Maybe she will sing as she sometimes does or maybe she will be quiet the whole time. She might drag her feet forcing me to keep saying “Walk faster mum, we are late” as I hold her hand. Maybe she will ignore my plea like she sometimes does, walking slowly as if I don’t exist. If she will be in a very lousy mood, she might pull every antic tucked up her sleeve until I agree to carry her on my back.

I will tell her “I love you” when I kiss her goodbye at her classroom door. She will say “I love you” back (Thank God there is no ‘maybe’ to that) Maybe her teacher - Teacher Elizabeth will see me and wave at me like she sometimes does. Or maybe she will be too busy getting ready to start her lessons.

On this day, I will be happy in spite of all the tragedies that our Country has seen happen this September. I will forget the Sinai fuel explosions, the lethal brews that have killed and left others blind and the heinous road accidents. As I write this, news is breaking of another fuel spill in Busia – Western Kenya. But I will not dwell on that. I will not dwell on any mood dampeners.

In fact, I will call my mom and remind her that it is my birthday (if you had 8 kids, you would forget too) and we will talk on the phone for as long as she wants. Don’t joke now, my mother can stay on the phone for a whole hour if you don’t cut her short, she is an incredible woman.

On this day, I will sing to my favourite band - Daughtry’s song, September. Part of it goes;


Of all the things I still remember
Summer’s never looked the same
The years go by and time just seems to fly
But the memories remain

In the middle of September, We’d still play out in the rain
Nothing to lose but everything to gain
Reflecting now on how things could’ve been
It was worth it in the end

This coming Friday, the 23rd of September, I will thank God for that Saturday that saw me make an entry into this world as a little baby. Yes. I was born on a Saturday; my two daughters were born on a Saturday too. Heidi should have been born on a Thursday but she said ‘No thank you’ and waited till Saturday. So you can safely say we are ‘Saturday people’. Hihi.

God willing, should I see the morning of September 23rd, I will celebrate a heart that keeps beating to keep me alive and a body that has not failed me in over 3 decades.

Allow me to sway my hips just a tad and to add a sashay to my walk. Allow me to acquire imaginary wings and fly. Allow me to smile and laugh and get consumed in living my life like its golden. Allow me to sing and dance because on September 23rd, mama Hailey turns 33. Yikes!