Fifty and Counting
Edit: Video link below. Website provides best experience.
As my mom tells the story, I was born on a Saturday afternoon. Dad was on a weekend shift at Maytag so he was getting paid time and a half. This meant when she called him (on a phone with a cord), by the time someone in the office had tracked him down to come to the phone for an emergency call from his wife, she was already feeling antsy.
“I’m in labor!”
“Take a cab to the hospital,” he said. “I’m getting paid time and a half!”
😂
He was there when I was born, but tried to encourage her to hurry up so he could get back to the factory. (Time and a half, remember?!)
I love this story for so many reasons. My dad was an incredibly hard working person, and my mother has always been a loving, kind soul.
My 50th birthday fell on a Saturday this year, harkening back to my birth, but there was no factory job and no time and a half being paid. Despite that, it was a practically perfect birthday weekend. Monkey is still up visiting Mom, and that was the only flaw.
Notice Buddie’s goatee in all the pictures. He grows one for my birthday. 😍
Buds, Yessa, and I started the day with “Murph” as we do most Saturday mornings. We do it modified, as a team. It never gets easy.
We had a walk, and then some video game time.
Animal Crossing, a game that Monkey introduced me to knowing how much I would love it, is a relaxed, cozy, peaceful place for me to plant flowers, swim in the ocean, and drop gifts for my children.
Animal Crossing hosted a party for me:
A little time with the chickens:
I had video chats with Mom and Monkey who sang to me.
And a call with Kel, Paula, Kate and Bets.
Paula put together this video for me, which brought me such joy.
I received cards from friends, and text messages from loved ones:
As many of you know, I don’t care for cake, but give me sushi on my birthday, and I am a happy, grateful person.
Laughing, lovely time with my 4 out of 5 tribe here at home made for a perfect day.
But my birthday weekend wasn’t over!
On Sunday morning Buds and I completed a virtual 5K I had signed up for through my life insurance. (I love my life insurance company.)
We had a chat with Buddie’s parents, and they donated to a female democratic candidate as my birthday present. 🎁
Then we had online church, and Fi and another friend, Jesse, presented a stellar worship service. Buds announced that it was my birthday, and my church friends sang to me across the miles via Zoom. (If you haven’t heard singing on Zoom, it is hilariously awful due to time lapses and spotty service, but I loved it.)
I had some leftover sushi, then in the afternoon Buds and I headed out on the gorgeous Sunday afternoon for a little kayaking with Fi.
Thanks to loving friends and family, and an awareness of how incredibly blessed I am, it was a perfect way to turn 50. Lest I forget, Buddie’s blog post was another gift.
And as is the case when you have people in your life who love you just as you are, and still want you to be better than you think you can be: a loved one sent me this, and I want to be what she thinks I have the potential to be:
Thank you for all the love, Dear Ones.
