Happy Birthday Monkey

Wow, I cannot believe that you are 9 years old. It seems like just yesterday that we were driving to the hospital at 100 miles an hour since you had decided not to wait until we got to the hospital to come into this world. I never heard you cry when you were born but boy you sure have made up for that since then. You had a rough start but I will never forget the first time that I finally got to see you with your eyes that were swollen shut from the blood vessels being broken in them and how much you looked like your brother.

You make me laugh each and every day and I thank you for that!!! I love your stories and jokes and my favorite will always be the first time we met Old Man Jenkins who was in China. I hope that you never lose the ability to make us laugh. You are adventerous and a daredevil and I love seeing the world through your eyes.

I hope that you have a wonderful birthday Monkey and just know how much I love you.

Mommy

Another 40th

When I was a kid, 40 seemed old but now that I am there (almost), it isn't old at all. Most of my friends turn 40 this year and today another one of my closest friends celebrates this milestone. This person came into my life when I was a freshman in high school. We both were the new kids in a class that was mostly kids who knew each other since kindergarden. It was a tough transition for both of us and I think that is part of the reason why we became such good friends. There were situations that brought us very close and I was even lucky enough to go to prom that year with him (even though at the time he didn't realize this is how I felt). He was someone that had big dreams and has been fortunate to achieve many of them and I am so proud of him. We remained extremely close friends throughout high school and the year we graduated, we were involved in a serious crash. He held my hand and kept me calm until we went to the hospital all the while in pain himself. I didn't see him again after this day as we both went our separate ways to different hospitals and then eventually on to college. We kept in touch here and there through the years and yet even with the distance, we somehow found each other and when we did talk, it was always easy and we picked up right where we had left off. We remained close friends and now with the age of technology, he is a big part of my life once again and I am ever grateful for that!



Happy Birthday my dear friend, since you didn't want anything, here is my gift to you. I hope that the next 40 years are as great for you as the last 40 have been, and thank you for being in my life once again.