Happy Birthday, Eliza
My dearest Eliza,
It’s your seventh birthday. I wondered how long it would be before your birthday was just your birthday and not the anniversary of the day I didn’t die. Apparently, seven years. Because today, I’m just thinking about you.
Today, I’m grateful you’re here with us. Last weekend, we had Chinese food from a new place, and apparently they use peanut oil and don’t advertise it because you had a horribly severe allergic reaction and spent most of Saturday night in the ER with your dad while I spent the night with Griff assuring him that you would be ok. We’re glad you’re ok and that you’re here with us. Just like seven years ago, our family needs an Eliza. 
Your daddy says he’s not ready for you to be seven, and you say that he can’t be not ready until you get out of the ‘ones.’ I think he’s never going to be ready for his little girl to grow up. But you do seem to be growing up.
You stretch me. You push me and pull me and twist me and, quite frankly, you confound me. You are not easy, but then, neither am I. Much to my dismay, you are more and more like me each day. There are days that I’m embarrassed by that and days when I’m quite proud of that. Depends on the day. Some day, you’ll have to determine for yourself which traits fall into which category.
But I can tell you this. You are strong and you are opinionated and you are loyal. I am proud of you. We recently had you tested and discovered that you have some fairly significant hearing loss (is that a result of your father’s heritage or of your prematurity?), and the doctor says it may affect your ability to process sounds and, thus, your ability to read. But, sweetie, you’re doing great. We are crazy proud of how well you’re doing in first grade.
You have made friends with the girls down the street, and it’s rare that you, Isabella and Bri-Bri aren’t together. I look forward to seeing the three of you grow up together. Griff, of course, gets a little tired of little girl giggles. I tell him that some day he won’t mind all of the girls in the house. He says that by that time, he’ll have moved out. He’s probably right. By then, it’ll just be you, me and your daddy.
Let’s see… what should you know about you at this moment in time? You are a little fashionista. You love to shop & you believe that fancy is appropriate all the time. However, you believe that brushing your teeth is appropriate only some of the time. Rarely, even. You are currently addicted to Barbie. Griff hates finding naked Barbies around the house, which makes you laugh, which makes your daddy and me laugh.
We’re currently taking turns reading the first Harry Potter book to you, and it’s fun to watch as we all seem to gather together regardless of who happens to be reading that night. You are such fun as you figure out that Hermione is the smart one of the three. May she inspire you.
We’ve begun attending church after forever of not, at your urging. Thank you for that. I told you, Eliza, you make us all better.
You make us laugh. You say the funniest things. When you aren’t throwing a horrible, crazy, dramatic fit, you are some of the most fun I’ve ever had. I think the two of us are going to have great fun together in the years to come.
We love you Eliza. Happy birthday, my precious.
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Happy happy all the day
Today is the birthday is one of my favorite people ever… my sister-in-law, Stacy. I am blessed beyond reason to have the opportunity to live this life alongside her.
I was lucky enough to celebrate with Stacy, her mom, and her sister last weekend with a super spa day. It was such fun to join in as family really gathered together to focus on Stacy, a woman whose life deserves a bit of joyous celebration.
So, for today and all sorts of days to come, I wish you many happies, Stacy. love you…
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another happy day
When we moved to Florida, I kinda fell apart. No, no, it’s true. Search the archives for 2006 through 2007. It’s all well documented. But I knew we had needed to leave where we were, and I knew that wherever Mike went was where I wanted to be. But it was really horribly difficult.
One of the bonuses of moving here was that Mike’s brother and his wife and family lived close by. An unexpected bonus for me was that my sister-in-law’s family also lived nearby. Mike had pretty much grown up with Stacy’s family, but they were all very new to me. It was such a welcome relief when they came to provide us with a family we didn’t have here.
At different times during that first summer, both Stacy’s mom and dad told me that it might take a long time to really feel comfortable here. They relayed to me how a move years before had affected them. To say I found comfort in them is a huge understatement.They took us in… invited us to gatherings and accepted our collective quirks and oddities in stride.
They are not family by blood, but we are blessed to have them in our lives, grateful for their family feeling.
So, today, we’re wishing a very happy birthday to my brother-in-law’s mother-in-law.
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it’s a happy happy
Today is the birthday of my very favorite person ever. I’m fortunate to get to spend my days with him.
Mike and I have been together forever these days. He was still in college when we met, fresh from a semester abroad. He was shy and unsure of himself but wicked funny and smart. I broke several of my own self-imposed dating rules when I went out with him, but I always loved a smart, funny man. It only took a couple of dates before I was hooked.
As great as he was then, he’s better now. Age is Mike’s friend. Today, he’s confident and secure and stronger than he would admit. We tease that I’m what holds our family together, but he’s what holds me together. He is patient and long-suffering (anyone living with me pretty much has that title). He is an amazing father.
And he’s still smart. And wicked funny. And I still really like that in a man.
Happy Birthday, Mike.
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Happy Birthday, Griffin!!!
It is hard to believe that my baby is turning 11 today. How did that happen? I wore his crocs around the house tonight… and they were too big. In another day or so, I’ll turn around and he’ll be 22. I’ve always said that Griff was kinda born an old man. But the qualities that will make him an amazing man make it really hard to be a kid sometimes. He’s this contradiction of little boy and kindly old soul.
It seems that at this point, I worry about him more than anything. He’s entering middle school next fall, and it’s even harder to be a short, kinda weak little smart boy in middle school than it is in elementary school. I’m spending my summer praying he hits a growth spurt before school starts in August.
He’s going to be going to his third new school in four years thanks to our move to Florida and some rezoning issues, and he’ll have to make new friends again. I hate that for him.
We got the notification in the mail this week that he was accepted into the Accelerated Track for academics in middle school, and I’m not completely sure it’s where I want him. But it’s where he wants to be, and I’m ready to support that choice (of course, Mike, all of Griff’s teachers, and the middle school selection group may not all be wrong here).
I am fearful for him in so many ways. Growing up now is so much more challenging than when I was a kid. And yet, I am hopeful for him is so many other ways. I can hardly wait to see what God has in store for Griff.
And so, happy birthday to my favorite boy. And to think, I wanted a new car. Mike’s the one who wanted a child. He’s always the one with the right idea.
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