Celebrate Every Day

My five-year-old mind whirled with delight as Miss Rothenbach regaled my kindergarten classmates and me with exciting tales of floral leis, luaus, sugar cane, blue ocean waters and palm trees. Although I had been to as many continental states as I could count on my fingers and toes by that point, I had never heard of a place as exotic as Hawaii. For the next year, it seemed that all I could talk about was Hawaii and how I was going to live there one day. 

By the next year, my parents decided to indulge my continued interest in Hawaii by hosting a Hawaiian-theme birthday party for me. Mom, a prolific note taker, wrote this in a book she kept to record my first seven years: "Birthday party after school. All girls in 1st grade invited. Daddy brought girls out from school. Games in front yard, a supper and then outside to play until 6:00 when Daddy took girls home. Hawaiian theme. Varied colored paper leis and flowers for their hair. Margaret Wilhelm (a dear neighbor and talented friend) brought over her Hawaiian village set up for the table. Keri was a very excited little girl." I can still remember the pastel tissue paper flowers and the fun of pretending that I was in Hawaii, even though I was in our front yard in Wisconsin.

Turning seven years old at my Hawaiian-theme birthday party.

We always celebrated birthdays enthusiastically in our household when I was growing up. My late mom and I often shared those birthday celebrations, especially as I grew older, because our mid-May birthdays were only four days apart.

Our birthday celebrations, however, weren't fancy, lavish or expensive nor were they often filled with big parties. Birthdays for our family were celebrations of life, of blessing and of being together. They were celebrations of the opportunity to experience another year. 

Dad and I both seemed to approve of my birthday cake, showcased on a little table that Dad built for me.
It was a great day to turn two years old.

Now that I have traveled through several decades of birthdays, I have a generous share of memories to reflect upon and I look to future birthdays with gratitude. 

The reality, though, is that every day is cause for celebration, whether a birthday or not. It isn't the cake, the presents or the parties. It's the gift of the new day. 

What would our lives be like if we celebrated each day with the same jubilation we experienced as children when our birthdays rolled around? Think about that one for a little while.

How will you celebrate the blessing of this precious day?

Celebrate each and every day. There you will find the gift.

Mom's Day

Today would have been my beloved mom's 87th birthday.  She and I always relished having May birthdays.  May weather is usually comfortable, not too cold, not too hot.  The earth is greening up and blossoming.  And as a kid, it meant that summer was nearly here.  Since I grew to adulthood, Mom and I frequently shared our birthday celebrations with a shared dinner and cake.  We discontinued giving birthday gifts to each other at one point and chose instead to share experiences because we saw giving memories to each other had a greater pull than giving things.  So, as May moves quickly along, I celebrate it as Mom's month and today as Mom's day.  Today and always, I will relish all of those shared May birthdays and precious shared experiences that continue to enrich my life.

Birthday Party

Our Christmas was a birthday party.  From a Biblical perspective, Christmas is, as the song says, “the birthday party of the king.”  Our Christmas was also a birthday party for our good friend Betty who turned 90 on Christmas Day.  We celebrated with our good friend over good food and good conversation.  Our Christmas feast came from our church’s community Christmas dinner.  We brought take-out containers to Betty's house, ate ourselves silly, yet still saved room for Christmas treats and birthday cake and ice cream. We were joined on occasion by Betty’s feline ladies who otherwise enjoyed a long, Christmas Day nap.  The gift wrapping, bows and ribbons will make for appealing playthings for the kitties. In every way, our Christmas was a blessing -- a celebration of the meaning of the holiday, a birthday party for our dear friend and an opportunity to break bread together in gratitude for all that we have and for each other.  Those were precious Christmas gifts indeed.

Happy Birthday, Dad

Today would've been my father's birthday.  He was born November 21, 1918.  He passed away in 1984, so it has been a long time since I sang "Happy Birthday" to him.  On Sunday, November 11, our church observed Veteran's Day.  I felt as if Dad was very close that morning.  He had been born the same November as the first Veteran's Day was observed.  He was a World War II veteran himself.  That same Sunday service, we also happened to sing his favorite hymn, "Just As I Am."  I managed to get through the first two of the three verses we were asked to sing, but by the third verse, my voice was cracking.  Soon, my singing voice was silenced and tears of remembrance flowed down my cheeks instead.  After nearly 25 years since his death, it's amazing how much I still miss him.  I will spend today recalling so many happy memories and celebrating my good fortune of having such a wonderful man to call Dad.  Tomorrow, as we sit at the Thanksgiving table, Larry and I will have a slice of pie, Dad's favorite dessert.  Happy Birthday, Dad.  I love you.

Me Old? Really?!

Today is my 54th birthday.  I look at my hair and I see a little more salt than pepper.  I look at my neck and I see the beginning of that chicken skin that old ladies get.  Yet, in many ways, I feel younger. I try to do all of the right things:  I exercise, eat right, drink lots of water and get my share of sleep and rest.  I'm fortunate to have rewarding work where I'm challenged to keep learning.  And I enjoy the life I've been blessed to have with my wonderful husband and loving friends and family. I realize that with the passing years, I see time differently and I look at my todays with more awareness and gratitude.  I also have a deeper appreciation for my yesterdays and the people I have loved who have shaped my life for the better.  I continue to see tomorrow as an adventure (with only a bit of trepidation now and again).  So, as the candles keep piling onto my birthday cake, I see them as blessings, as lights to guide my life going forward.  I choose to view those candles as the number of laughs I should have in a day or the number of opportunities to give thanks or the number of ways to help another.  So, with this birthday, I celebrate the blessings of my good life.  Me old?  Really?!  There's still so much more to experience!

Octogenarian Celebration

Larry and I had the pleasure of attending the 80th birthday parties of two of our neighbors over the weekend, one on Saturday afternoon, the other on Sunday afternoon.  Both Roger and Marilyn are wonderful people who contribute so much to the life of our neighborhood.  Attending their birthday celebrations reminded me of the importance of family (four generations celebrating together, in the cases of Roger and Marilyn) and how much there is to cherish and enjoy with each passing decade of our lives.  I recalled my mom's 80th birthday party five years ago.  Every five years, beginning when she was 65, I threw some sort of birthday bash for Mom, usually in the form of a luncheon with her many, many close friends.  The last such party was a two-day affair, a lunch with family and friends one day, followed by cake and punch at the apartment complex where she lived the next day.  Our good friend Chris sent Mom a surprise birthday gift to wear at her parties -- a billowy, bright fuchsia feather boa!  Mom had a great sense of humor so she flounced around at her celebrations with her boa, making every moment perfect for a picture (I have the photos to prove it!).  I'm thankful to these wonderful 80-year-olds for demonstrating for those of us younger the joys of living a long life.

Happy Birthday, Dad

My dad would have turned 93 years old today.  As I reflected about him throughout the day, I thought of his amazing work to educate children across the country about the value of reptiles, arachnids and amphibians in the ecosystem.  I thought about what a great husband he was to my mom, always signing his cards to her, "All my love, Chuck," and meaning it.  And I pondered the many wonderful memories I have of my father who died so long ago when he was only 65.  Dad was sensitive, hilarious, creative, intelligent, independent, and devoted to Mom and me.  He was nearly 40 when I was born. Consequently, he always treated me as kind of a little adult.  One story that reflects our special father-daughter relationship takes me back to when I was 10 years old.  That was when Dad taught me how to drive.  He picked me up from school one June day so we could go black widow spider hunting in the hills.  While on our journey, Dad pulled the car off the quiet gravel road and invited me to get behind the wheel.  Although barely tall enough to reach the pedals and see over the dash, I drove the car slowly, proud of my accomplishment and amazed that Dad would offer such an unexpected, adult-like opportunity to this elementary school student.  With no traffic in sight, I drove only a little distance but the adrenalin rush was huge.  Dad always allowed me to be a child but saw the potential adult in me.  He encouraged me to improve myself, have confidence, develop my skills and celebrate whatever talents I had.  I was the only 10-year-old I knew with steering wheel experience.  Thanks, Dad, for always believing in me.  Happy Birthday.  I love you.