A Note About Birthdays...

Today I spoke to my adorable godson who was celebrating his ninth birthday with a party this afternoon. He turned nine, actually, on 09-09-09 which is probably the coolest way to spend your golden birthday if you ask me. He was giddy, telling me about his presents telling me he had "so much money" he was taking me out for dinner, his treat. Man do I love that little guy...

This afternoon my niece is celebrating her 2nd birthday. TWO, already. I swear it as only a week or two ago when I was on the phone with Katie as her water was breaking. Two, really? REALLY?

Birthdays are a fact of life; if you want to be alive, you MUST have birthdays. Birthdays mark the passing of time; growing up, getting wiser, more mature the whole nine yards.

Last night Geo and I started our Friday night bowling league (Children of the Corn is gonna win it all this year, watch out!) It was really really odd and unsettling, to say the least, to see some of the people we were bowling with because they had bowled junior leagues with Geo's little brother Joey. It's been five years since we lost Joey and while some days it feels like five years, most of the time it seems like it was just yesterday. All of these "kids" are now in their early 20's. They hadn't even hit puberty when we started watching them bowl, now they are of legal drinking age-how in the world did that happen? When I think of Joey, it's hard to imagine him being of legal age, graduating from college, bowling in adult leagues, doing all the things that all of his peers and friends are doing now. He's forever going to be 16 in all of our minds because that's how he left us.

On the night I left Gabriel in the hospital (five days after his birth-day)I came to the startling realization that just because *my* world had stopped it did not mean the rest of the world stopped, or even CARED that my world had stopped. Last night, seeing all of those grown up kids (adult league? REALLY??) really really reinforced that again; our world may have stopped (momentarily) when we lost Joey but the rest of the world did not. They went on growing, maturing and celebrating birthdays...

As I approach my 30th birthday (yes, really) I'm realizing what a gift each day is; not just the special occasions but the simple mundane days. The days where Geo, the kids, and I sit on the patio and watch cars whiz by, the days when SarahAnne colors my hair, the days when Gabe comes home from school telling me about Mother Goose, the days when friends visit, the days when nothing at all of any significance happens. Our days ARE gifts...so let's celebrate!

A very happy birthday (on Monday) to our little sweetie Aubrey Rose...and to all of the other September birthday celebrators (is that even a word? It must be, Mozilla didn't tell me I spelled it wrong ha ha) enjoy your days...and your gifts

Jammin' For Joey

I now interrupt this normally happy sappy blog with something a bit different...

As most of you know, George lost his little brother Joey in an accident nearly five years ago; like George and JD, Joey was an excellent bowler. After Joey passed away a scholarship fund was set up in Joey's name and for the past four years, our family has been able to give two deserving high school kids a $100 scholarship toward higher learning. After this years' scholarship presentation, however, the scholarship fund ran dry. Not wanting to see this scholarship stop, a woman who was (and still is) involved with the league Joey bowled on set up "Jammin' For Joey" with help from another local bowling alley, a nightclub, and a local band. Tonight in West Chicago, at The Kingpin Nightclub(@Bowling Green Sports Center) from 7:00-10:00 p.m. the band Back Stage Pass is going to be playing. Tickets are $20 at the door with all proceeds going to the scholarship fund...if you're not able to make it and would still like to make a donation (in whatever amount you see fit) please contact me and I'll let you know how you can do that...and if you are unable to contribute financially, please keep us in your prayers, as we know it's going to be a fairly difficult night for all of us; a very bittersweet night indeed.