Happy Birthday Eric

For Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Today is my husband’s birthday. I’m a bit embarrassed to say that I did not say “Happy Birthday” to him until we were at the children’s bus stop a good hour after he woke up. But I do think he ended up having a special day, even if we were at work for most of it. We did have a chance to have lunch together at school since our schedules allow us to do so every other day. I not-so-subtly told everyone at our lunch table that it was Eric’s birthday and he was serenaded in Spanish by the Spanish teacher and given many other well wishes by others. I took a little time during the day to put together a picture collage of him using photos I had on my computer and I posted a birthday announcement to him on Facebook. After work we drove to our old stomping ground, the town we went to college in and where we lived when we were first married. (That might sound more romantic an event if I left out that we were actually driving to his 4pm dentist appointment, but that’s the truth of that situation).

Still, despite having to work and having to go to the dentist, afterward we managed to carve out some special time to mark the day. First, he and I went to dinner. He enjoyed his choice of meal and I relayed to him the obnoxious conversation I overheard at the bar stools next to us, one he somehow didn’t pick up on himself. It doesn’t take much to make the two of us laugh and the bar stool guys had been pretty entertaining even if they were quite sexist.

We arrived home and I had him open his present. It wasn’t much, just a small little plaque I’d picked up a few hours earlier, but its perfect sentiment made us both laugh again. We waited for our son to arrive home from basketball practice before diving into his cake (marble, his favorite) and he then opened a present from Sydney. The rest of the evening was easy-going and relaxing. We knew we had to head back to school for another few more days before vacation.

At one point during lunch at school my husband told our coworkers, “Birthdays were never a big deal in my family when we were growing up. My wife’s family was another story”. I suppose that’s true. Growing up, I awoke to hand drawn signs crafted by my Dad. Mom would bake my favorite cake (I had two favorites so she’d ask me which one I wanted that time around). My locker was often decorated at school. I had two birthday parties every year, one with family and one with my friends. And when our children were younger, I threw myself into each child’s birthday party planning and thoroughly enjoyed preparing all the details from the invitations, decorations, food, games, and favors. I am pretty sure that my children have fond memories of their birthday parties and that makes me happy.

For whether you are seven or forty-seven I believe birthdays should be celebrated with love. My husband may not have needed a big party with friends or even a homemade cake, but I did my best to give him that special recognition he deserves. For if he hadn’t a birthday to celebrate, my life as I know it would be completely erased. So Happy Birthday to you Eric. And So Happy Your Birthday to Me.