Tag Archives: memories

birthday

Feeling so loved

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My birthday was Saturday. Not that anyone could have missed that, given how many times I mentioned it last week.

I deemed this birthday a top 5 birthday. And y’know, I still think it was… but I’ve had time to think about past birthdays that were also absolutely epic as well.

I remember birthday hay rides and slumber parties growing up.

I remember in 7th grade, classmates threw me a surprise party — evening getting the school secretary involved to distract me. I don’t know if I ever told any of those girls how much that meant to me… how deeply it touched me that they did that.

I remember one in particular in which the maroon icing roses gave us all red mouths and teeth, and we all ended up looking like vampires afterwards.

I remember going to see my friend do a show in Houston while on the Rascal Flatts tour… never knowing that friend would one day be my husband, and that I’d eventually work at the bar that Flatts was discovered in when they were the Tuesday night house band.

I remember my girlfriend flying to Nashville to spend my birthday with me so I wouldn’t have to be alone as my husband was on the road.

I remember my brother having a bad car accident on my birthday, and we spent the day in the surgery waiting room. More importantly, I remember getting to see him just before he went into surgery, and he remembered to wish me a Happy Birthday.

I remember spending last year all by myself…

This year? This year was pretty awesome. As I previously posted, my two wishes for the day came true. But beyond that, I had my parents visiting earlier in the week. (The only photo of that is on my Mom’s camera, so I don’t have that shot to share here. Pooh.)  We celebrated mine, my husbands and my Mom’s birthdays at that time. Then, my husband and I went out the night of my birthday and I just got so much love from my work-family that I ended that night with the biggest smile on my face.

I rarely put a whole lot of weight on birthdays. I don’t do a week-long birthday celebration, like many people do. But when one goes extra special… I just want to bask in it for awhile. Like this year. Happy, happy, happy girl here… still, days later.

general-post, memories

This day snuck up on me

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This last weekend, local firefighters climbed 112 stories to remember and honor the first responders lost in the Sept. 11 attack. This happens every year, and I absolutely love that they do it!

But I was confused when I heard about it. Sept. 11th was still a long ways away.

Right?

I’m really glad I was by myself as my mind started doing the math and realized that its September, and actually 9/11 would only be in a few more days. I’m pretty sure there was a visible light-bulb moment all over my face.

Ever since its happened (9/11, not the light bulb moment), I’ve looked on this day as momentous. Last year, I recounted where I was when I found out about the tragedy. This year… this year I’m more aware of how much time has passed since 9/11/01.

When I card someone at the bar, they have to have a birth date of that particular day, 1991, or before. 1991. The people just becoming old enough to drink legally were 10 years old when the towers fell. College students were in elementary school. That blows my mind in a way. And its not me going, “OMG I’m old!” in that statement. It’s me realizing that soon the emotional attachment to that day will wane, as it becomes more like a paragraph in our history books.

Bin Laden may be dead, but Al Qaeda is still active. There are people still dealing with the aftermath of the day, every day. Be it with health difficulties, dealing with the loss of their loved one(s) or just living looking over their shoulder — 9/11 is still very real and still very strong for thousands of Americans. It’s NOT a paragraph in a history book. Not yet.

But that time will come, and I think it comes with healing. It’s not forgetting. It’s not disrespecting. It’s healing. It takes time, but it does come. I, for one, do welcome that healing even as I’ll forever pause when I think of 9/11.