So there
wasn’t a big celebration planned, but today is a big birthday for Kevin, so he
had hoped to enjoy the day. He took off
of work with the intention of getting some time out on his motorcycle, visiting
me and the girls, then later having some barbecue at Famous Dave’s and chilling
for a bit at the pool at my mom’s with some dessert and (as per his request) a very small gathering of family and a couple friends, but most of that didn’t even happen. He felt sick yesterday morning, but he went
to work anyway. Mid-afternoon, he left
early to come home and crawl into bed.
He wasn’t feeling well this morning, but I knew that he was awake before
I left for work and shaving, because he intended to go somewhere, likely on his
motorcycle.
I was very
tempted to get him to promise me not to go anywhere on his motorcycle when he
was already feeling crummy and the day was going to be really hot, but I
resisted. I gave him his birthday
card. His main gift is sitting in our
living room, all 50 inches of flat-screen TV he’s wanted for years, and I
finally consented to in celebration of his monumental birthday this July.
I know him all
too well. He did go out on his
motorcycle, but he wasn’t out for very long, before he started feeling even
worse. Thankfully, he had the good sense
to come home rather than push his luck and head out of town for a long
ride. Poor thing. He’s spent most of the afternoon and evening
curled up in bed. We’re not sure if it’s
a cold or what, but the timing of it has not been appreciated.
On one hand, I’m
grateful that for months, he’s been saying that he didn’t want to make a big
deal out of his birthday, so I decided not to plan a big surprise party or even
a he-knows-about-it-already big party. I
respected his wishes and asked a couple people to meet us for dinner and a
couple to join us for dessert. Now, I’m
very glad that he wanted to keep things on the down low, because I am certain
he would be even more bummed than he already is if we had lots of people, food,
and preparation invested in a big bash that he couldn’t enjoy.
We’re hoping he’ll
feel better, so we can try a low-key celebration this weekend, and a bigger (but
just as if not more) informal family/friend party in August when we’re in
Rochester. Sixteen years ago, the summer
my mom, sisters, and I first met Kevin and his father, we were there over his
birthday and remembered the date for the following year. For his next birthday we were also staying at
the cottage and decorated his front door.
Now that Kevin
and I are decorating what has become “our Rochester wall,” we have the original
card we gave him framed, a whole wooden box of “Shhhh” with his name on it, and
a bar of soap with a tugboat in it placed on our new corner shelves. Kevin’s kept basically all of the letters and
gifts I’ve made or bought and given to him over the years, but there is at
least one little one that I haven’t seen in years. We got him a keychain and wrote “Coast Guard”
and underneath put the phone number for the local Dunkin Donuts. We all got a big kick out of that.
Lord, thank You
for the gift of my husband, who has been an integral part of my life for the
past sixteen years. Back then, he never
thought he’d make it to this birthday. Neither of us ever thought we'd be approaching our ninth year of marriage to each other. I’m
grateful God always knows better. I hope and pray we will have lots more than sixteen years of birthdays to celebrate together in the future. Lord, may Your Will be done!
