My Parents' Gift To Me

It's hard to believe that it's been more than a week already since my birthday,

and that May is more than half over.

Sigh.

Where is time going?

My son took this photo.

It's there to prove 

I have "etchings" from life

and living.

:)

"Etchings of living"

ah yes,

what would life be without the scars 

and lessons

and new insight?

Would it just be a meaningless

existence of days?

I don't want to live like that.
It seems life is made up in the daily journey.

 

Last Thursday I wanted to post 

and say how thankful I was to have another birthday...

and all that stuff I say on my birthday

every year.

And I mean all of it.

It is my parents' gift to me.

I open that gift with every breath I breathe.

And I am filled with thanksgiving.

 

I am thankful for life

and health

and safety

and joy.

 

But we had deadlines that day.

Deadlines that really were deadlines.

They weren't moving targets.

Stuff had to be done,

THAT day,

not some other day.

 

So we started at 5:30 that morning

 in hopes of "knocking it out"

right away.

At 8:30 that night we finished!

 

We finished!

Yay!

We met THAT deadline.

Then we jumped in the car 

and went to get a bite to eat

I hadn't cooked all day.

 

No fanfare.

No singing.

No balloons and confetti.

 

BUT

No less a birthday.

My birthday.

I was really happy to be having

ANOTHER ONE!

Not everyone gets that privilege!

 

I am blessed!

My family...

Safe...

Happy...

Together...

It was so sweet

 when I looked in

 and saw that my daughter 

had changed the chalkboard message.

She said she was going to draw the dog on there

until she remembered that my name

Rachel

means 

lamb.

All day long I received messages,

texts,

phone calls,

cards.

Our son went to Walmart about midnight and bought

German Chocolate Cake Mix

and

Coconut Pecan Icing!

He made a cake the next day.

Around 10:30, the next night,

 the 16th,

three of us decided to eat the 

German Chocolate cake and vanilla ice cream,

while one slept,

while one hung out with friends,

three of us ate.

mmmm~mmmm~mmmm

it was good!

So I had a good birthday.

Yes, I had a birthday.

And who knows...

maybe we will celebrate

on June 15th,

and throw confetti

and release helium filled balloons,

and take an impromptu trip to 

Prince Edward Island
(a dream, a wish)

and laugh

and

sing happy birthday 

to the top of our lungs

and eat more cake.

Or not.

And you know, 

I'm just fine with that.

Because I still had a birthday.

I am blessed.