Wordle Won on my Birthday

But I did not rue the day.

Screenshot of Wordle loss taken by First Daughter

Day: July 8, morning

First guess: rouge

Second: mower

Third: power

Fourth: tower

Fifth: lower

Sixth: rower

Actual Answer: cower

Was this a sign of the day?

Losing at Wordle on my birthday was like getting a bad horoscope reading. Cancer June 21 — July 21: I’m sorry, miss, but today you will lose at Wordle. We know it’s your birthday, but the stars refused to align in the right labyrinthine order for us to allow you to have a great day. Beware of squirrels and small dogs today. They both have teeth. Laundry baskets will be your obstacles of choice even if they aren’t YOUR choice. Oh, and there are even more dishes to wash. You should really get to those before the ants come marching back.”

The fact that I lost at Wordle before I had enjoyed a single sip of my morning coffee did not bode well for birthday joy. I mean, everyone has worries. There are chores needing to be done. Someone’s health is always in crisis and needs to be considered at least once, if not several, times a day.

For this one moment in time, however, I had been naively hoping I could just…BE. For one day. 24 hours. It was a small ask to all of the divine beings out there. Unfortunately, those divine beings showed me just what they thought of my request right from the start with my failed game play.

Word Association

My mind continued to circle back to the Wordle answer as the day kept on slipping. Why hadn’t I been able to come up with that word, I mused.

Cower makes me think of the Cowardly Lion from Wizard of Oz. He was cute and cuddly but a complete weenie as far as lions went. When had I ever used ‘cower’ in a sentence? Better yet, when did I ever think of any words even remotely synonymous with that word? The most important question: when have I ever personally had to cower?

Photo taken by First Daughter

Dawning Realization

Never. I don’t cower. This action verb is not in my personality repertoire. Of course it was not one of the first words I thought of before running out of Wordle guesses. As a blind, single mother of 3 barely adult children, I don’t have the time nor the patience to cower.

I reminisced over my day.

· Smeared Vaseline on Chloe’s nose without as much of the usual chase, tackle, hold down throw down

· Walked with an old friend

· Laughed so hard with my daughter in the feminine products aisle at Target that an employee was sent to investigate what was being destroyed

· Masterfully flirted and held my own when going toe-to-toe with a witty conversationalist

· Gave the last of my singles to a 7-year-old so she could order the Starbucks for which she had been begging her dad

· Used my birthday coupon to get my most extravagant drink from Starbucks for free (The barista said if my coupon had not worked, she would have made me a free drink anyway just because it was me. Hannah is my palindrome paladin.)

· Drank down a few shots of vanilla whiskey blended with Cointreau with my daughter while watching an old horror movie I had seen before I went blind

· Enjoyed a Mediterranean bowl with added avocado during a rare Panera visit

This T-shirt has a backstory! curious? Click on that story, also published in Good Vibes Club, after this post. Photo taken by Son

As my birthday clock ran down to midnight

I had embraced, not cowered, through my entire day. Like many people do with their astrological signs, I was reading too much into that game loss, into that sign. Wordle is meant to entertain, use my brain, and then move on with my day. There will be a new one tomorrow. My birthday, however, only comes around once a year. By evening, I chose to focus on the positives of the day. I’m letting go of signs. I can’t see to read them anyway.

I Don’t Want Soup