Happy Birthday, Beloved Husband!

Birthdays in our house are kind of a big deal.  We actually don’t celebrate birthDAYS, we do a whole birth weekend.  And if we can swing it, a whole birth-week.  There is a special meal of the celebrant’s choosing, gifts (I *heart* gifts LOL), and general fussing over.  When the kids were younger, our attention was focused on them and their parties.  We adults got the back burner (as it should be) when it came time to birthdays although we always did do a cake and a special dinner and a few gifts.  One year, when my son was 4, for his daddy’s birthday, he went to the store and bought his daddy the most special, wonderful gift in the world.  He bought him the best thing he could imagine – the one gift that, in his 4 year old world, was the one thing that was unbeatable.  He bought his daddy a plastic dinosaur.  He couldn’t think of a better gift, and he was going to give his daddy this gift.  My husband, upon opening the wrapping paper and finding a toy dinosaur, expressed such delight and joy that you’d have thought he had been given Super Bowl tickets.  That dinosaur was proudly displayed on my husband’s desk for years (it may still be there, I’ll have to ask) and when people would ask why he had a plastic dinosaur sitting on his desk, he’d puff up with pride and say, “My son gave me that!” 

A few years ago, when my husband turned 50, our daughter went to the parking lot where he parks and decorated his truck.  Imagine his surprise when, upon exiting the bus, he was greeted with this:

He loved it, by the way, and kept it decorated for about a week.  And people *did* honk, which was the coolest thing ever! 

Today is my beloved’s birthday.  As it’s on a Thursday, we are making it a whole birthday weekend.  Tonight, we are doing a small at-home party:  he picked the menu (fried pork chops and fried potatoes … he only gets fried foods once a year LOL) and banana split cake for dessert.  We will do gifts (I *heart* both giving and receiving gifts, so that’s my favorite part!) and candles and Daughter and I will sing, badly but with great enthusiasm.  Sunday we are doing a big family thing with the extended family – and while our son won’t be with us, his wife will be, so for that we’re grateful.

Happy Birthday, Love of my Life.  You are a blessing to all who know you, and I am honored and grateful to have shared your life for all this time.  And while I don’t know that we will ever be able to top the plastic toy dinosaur, and I am not going to decorate your truck, I hope that your birthday is still wonderful and that you know just how much you mean to us, your family, and how much we love you.