On Friday, I turned 40 years old. For whatever reason, I was actually looking forward to this milestone birthday, rather than dreading it. As it got closer to the big day, however, I realized that while I was looking forward to turning forty, I wasn't sure how I felt about actually being forty. I'm still not sure how I feel about being forty, but turning 40 was wonderful!
It has become tradition that my husband's parents take us out to dinner for our birthdays. I decided several months ago, that since this was a "big" birthday, I would request to go to Maggiano's. This is definitely a special occasion restaurant for us, and not your everyday dinner out place. Right before we were about to be seated, my parents and sister walked in. I live over 500 miles away from my family, so this was definitely unexpected. It was supposed to be a surprise, but I had to admit that I suspected they were coming after no one called to wish me a happy birthday (amongst a few other little clues). It was a good dinner, where the waitress kept referring to me as the "Birthday Princess," since my mother had a tiara for me to wear. There were also balloons on the table, so it was a slightly obvious birthday celebration.
On Saturday evening, my husband had planned a little party for me with a small group of friends. Since I had completely washed my hands of the planning, he was a little frustrated with me, but pulled it off flawlessly. I always enjoy getting together with friends; it's definitely something we don't do often enough.
My birthday weekend continued on Sunday morning, and this was probably my favorite part (My apologies to my husband and family. Your contributions are certainly recognized and appreciated, but they simply didn't touch me in the same way). One of my friends wrote a song for me. He has written numerous song parodies over the years for various occasions, but I felt like I was really somebody to have one written for me. He wrote it to the tune of Chris Tomlin's How Great Is Our God (for those of you who don't know me well, Chris Tomlin is my favorite!). I absolutely loved it and have been singing it to myself since he sent me the words. What made it even more special to me was this was the first time he had been to church in about six weeks. He is recovering from a bone marrow transplant he received in January. I was grinning from ear to ear while he sang, but trying not to cry at the same time (and we all know that I am not a crier), seeing this man in a surgical mask expend his last bit of energy to sing a song he wrote because I turned 40. It's amazing how much love you can feel when someone is singing about you being old!
Next time, I'll get back to scrapbook pages, but I couldn't help but share my birthday blessings this time.
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