My mom would have been 80 today. She’s here with my dad in 1959, leaving for their honeymoon the night of their wedding. They got married in a church on LA Cienega in West L.A. at 8:00pm and had the reception at her parents house. And off to Santa Barbara they went.

Years after my dad died I would go to pick up my mom to take her wherever. She didn’t care. Starbuck’s. Farmer’s Market. Makeup shopping. She just wanted to be with me and look at stuff (and buy stuff). At one point she came up with the most genius coping skill of all time: “Sometimes, you just have to buy a lipstick.” Those were the times when she missed my dad, or felt old or sick or lonely.

So today, after I taught a 7:00am yoga class and stayed for an 8:30 class, I went to the mall. On my mom’s 80th birthday. She had exactly 76 birthdays. And she loved the mall at Christmas, the music, the hustle and bustle… And I went to the M.A.C. counter and bought a bright orange Viva Glam lipstick. I already had the lip pencil. I’d been meaning to do this. I hadn’t even planned on it being today, but I’m so glad I did ♥