My Birthday

My sister posted this picture on her blog and wished me a happy Birthday. I love this picture. It has so many memories in it. I am holding my great great grandmother's hand and my favorite baby doll Sarah. She is 101 years old years old in this picture. My little sister, Natalie is also in this picture (I think we were 3 and 5 at the time). Thank you Natalie for this picture and for a glimpse into the past.

My Birthday Updated....

Ok, I do have to start with the night before my Birthday. I was sitting at the computer and John was asking me if anyone had mentioned doing anything for my Birthday. At first I tried to act all tough and said no, I am sure everyone is just busy and forgot about it. And then the tears came and the Pitty Party was in full swing and out came the "no body cares about me any more and I can't believe everyone forgot about my Birthday". Now keep that in mind as I talk about the events that unfolded on my Birthday. When I woke up I recieved a nice Email from my friend Beth and a phone call from my friend Tessa. My grandmother called and I had an enjoyable talk with her and she said to let her know when we were going to celebrate my Birthday. I then began crying again after I got off the phone and started cleaning my house. At this point I am upset because my house is dirty, no one cares about my Birthday, I have to clean my house, I miss my grandmother that passed away...and I am getting angry at God because it is all his fault that she is not here on my Birthday (I am turning 30 not 3 remember) and I am having an all out pitty party for myself. Then things started to change.....

My sister Alisann called me and asked what I was doing for my Birthday and I said very cheerfully "oh nothing just cleaning my house" we talked for a long time and I was so touched that she took that much time out of her day to chat with me on the phone. Then my mom called and wanted to know what I was doing on my Birthday and I said "oh just cleaning my house" and she said well what would you like to do today? Well, I said what would you like to do today? It took forever to finally decide (we both do not like to make decisions) to go to noon mass at Holy Trinity and then come to my house for lunch. I met my sister Alisann and my parents for mass at Holy Trinity at 12:00. My brother John called from Xavier to tell me happy birthday and I was so impressed that as a college kid with so many things to do that he remembered. My mom and Alisann came back to my house for lunch and I was so excited and I felt so special that they wanted to spend time with me. But that wasn't the only surprise...Natalie came to my house after work for lunch too and she brought me the prettiest flower arrangement that she and my sister made for me and she also brogught me a cake from Maxine's (Very good!!!). I loved it!!! I was so touched that they did so much for me and that they were so thoughtful. I truly have such a wanderful family!!! After our wanderful lunch that I enjoyed so much I suggested that my mom come and pray the rosary with us at church. By this time my pitty party was way over and I was embracing the day with a lot more happiness about turning 30. I get home and there is the sweetest message from my little sister (Mary) on the answering machine wishing me a happy birthday and telling what a great big sister I am.

So then John comes home and he is taking me out to dinner at one of my favorite resturaunts...Bone Fish Grill. I am all in a hury trying to get dinner for the kids and their baths and their PJs on and myself ready. So the babysitter gets their and out the door we go and by this time I think that we are running late for our reservations so I am questioning John about "why are you going the long way there?" we don't have time to go this way tonight. And he just smiles and says it will be fine. So we get to the resturaunt and the first person I saw was my mother and then I saw my dad .... and then the tears came. Emma and Anne were there...they were just at home in their pjs minutes ago. Alisann, Justin, Natalie, Jason, Tommy, my grandparents, Martha were all there. Needless to say I was completely shocked!!! I just wanted that moment to last forever seeing my family there like that made me so happy and I appreciated them so much! It was one of those moments that you could never describe how you felt, but you would want to remember exactly how everyone looked, what you talked about, how your food tasted, and how all of their hugs felt forever. I don't think I could ever tell anyone how truly thankful I was for all of them. And guess who was behind the whole thing? John. I couldn't believe it!