To say I was surprised by this birthday is a total understatement! I was depressed, blah, and just wanted to start counting backwards with my age! For the last 21 years, my birthday has been a day of mourning and remembrance. Never forget. September 11th. That horrific, catastrophic day in 2001 will forever be etched in our minds. Lest we forget.
Onto year 2023! Less than six washes in my new washer, it decided to quit working! I was so aggravated. Since I don't tend to celebrate my birthday on my birthday, I decided to treat myself by having the washer technician come out. (Trust me, it was a treat because I needed to do laundry!!)
Let's get to the good part. When I was waiting for the tech to arrive, I saw this person out my front window. My split second thoughts were - that looks like my sister-in-law but it must be a woman tech. Next thing I know, it was my sister-in-law and sweet toddler niece knocking on the door! Bless their hearts, they had drove all the way up to Ohio to see ME! I was shocked. I felt blessed. I felt loved. I got teary and couldn't stop smiling. A million emotions were flooding my heart.
The day before my birthday my mom was so insistent I make myself a cake. I kept say I don't need it. I'm trying to loose weight. It will just be me at my house. Excuse after excuse. At one point, she said she had planned on stopping by for a bit and we could go shopping so I should be ready to go. Again, I was insistent I don't need to go shopping, I'm saving every penny I can. To my great surprise, my mom, aunt, sister-in-law and grandparents had planned to celebrate my birthday.
I couldn't stop smiling. I'm always the one planning surprises. I get so much joy out of that! I didn't know how to react or what it felt like to be blind-sided by such love.
It was a wonderful day, well, week. My niece and sister-in-law stayed the rest of the week in Ohio. So beyond blessed. Even though it is a month later that I'm sharing my birthday story, it still brings a smile to my face and happy tears to my eyes.
