October 24, 2013

Birthdays are very special to me. Maybe it’s because I was born two weeks before Christmas, so growing up my birthday always felt rushed, with everyone focusing on getting ready for the big holiday. I’m not alone in feeling this way. I know lots of other December babies who have felt this at one point or another in their lives. That being said, since birthdays have always been a big deal for me, I’ve always strived to make it a big deal for the people who are in my life. Well, today is Dad’s birthday! Doesn’t matter how old or young he is, because as I like to joke, after 21 does it matter the age? Besides he’s too humble to care about birthdays or the focus being on him or his age, so let’s just say he’s several decades older than 21 and a couple of decades younger than 90. We as a family are extremely grateful this year that Dad is even here to celebrate another birthday. Things could have turned out much differently and I could be writing about how I miss Dad because he’s no longer with us. I don’t have to do that this year and I hope to not have to write about that for many years to come. Hope is one of the most amazing concepts ever.

Perspective on life is different for everyone though. To give an example of this, one of my closest friends lost her mother on this day one year ago to cancer. So while we celebrate Dad being alive and not succumbing to the stroke that altered his life forever, she is reminiscing about the loss of her mother and best friend, to a horrible disease. Earlier this year I had to put my eldest dog down and while sad for me, the event happened to occur on the day one of my best friend’s sister gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. Where there is death there is always life. Perspective is subjective. I have lots of friends who have lost either one or both of their parents, friends who have lost their children (including my parents who lost their first born, my sister Trisha, when she was just over two years old), friends who have lost friends, friends who have lost spouses.

So while we observe Dad’s birthday on this 24^th day of October 2013, I remember how lucky we are but I also remember my friends and those closest to them that may be gone now but not forgotten. Everyone has a different life adventure and story to tell, that’s the beauty of the human experience. Today’s story for us is it’s Dad’s birthday and I am tickled pink to be a part of it and to celebrate it. In true Walter fashion we observe his birthday the only way we know how…by going out to dinner! So Happy Birthday to my Dad, may he have many more to come!     

Below are some photos of Dad when he was a bit younger.