Happy Birthday. Happy Life.

Yesterday was my birthday, and as most of you know, I am a big birthday person, so I always expect it to be an awesome day. Also, I’m the big 3-0 now, so it had to be an extra special day, and while it was a pretty standard work day, there were a few subtle, special moments that stuck out to me. It began when I got Ella out of her crib and she reached up her arms to me as usual and put her little head on my shoulder. Then, she looked up at me and gave me a big, wet, open-mouth baby kiss right on my lips! She has only kissed me a handful of times in her whole life (her whole 13 months of life) so it felt like it was her own little version of a birthday present and it was just what I wanted. Here are a few more highlights from the day:

1. Coconut macaroons from Wendy

2. A happy birthday song from sixty teenagers auditioning for Amity Link Crew

3. A beautiful candle and candle stand from Christina

4. Cards and gifts from Mom and Dad

5. And a lovely evening of sushi and a movie with Mike and Jessica (thanks Jess!)

6. The picture at the top of this message is the present that Michael and my parents got for me. (This is just from the Ballard website, not my kitchen). It is a beautiful print that we found from Ballard (a cool catalogue I hadn’t heard of before).

But the best gift I had was a few hours in the afternoon with my grandmother. For those of you who don’t know, my grandmother is having open heart surgery today, which is a pretty big deal since she is 90 years old. So, it is a risky, but necessary procedure right now. However, you would never know this from spending the evening with her. She was in excellent spirits- laughing, joking, and acting happier and more full of life than I have seen her act in a while. She told me that she wasn’t nervous about the surgery at all and that she is so happy about the life that she has had so far, and about all 33 people that she has helped to bring together into this family. I didn’t leave feeling sad or nervous, but hopeful and thoughtful about the future. My grandmother reminded me that now that I am 30 she is exactly three times as old as me and it got me thinking about the next sixty years of my life and what they may bring. I am so happy with what I have today: a loving husband, a crazy and amazing baby, a huge family, loyal friends, a beautiful home, a rewarding career, and my own health. I can only hope that when I am 90 years old, I will have even more to be thankful for and will be able to look back on my life with contentment and joy as my grandmother does.

So, all in all, it was a happy birthday and this is a happy life.

If you are so inclined, please say a prayer for my Nanny today.