Happy Birthday, Mom

Today would be my mom's 53rd birthday.

Birthdays aren't a huge deal in my family. We don't throw giant parties or celebrate for days on end. The birthday boy or girl gets to pick where they want to eat for dinner, and we eat there. No Matter What. Seriously...we ate at Golden Corral for three years thanks to Clay. There is always cake, home made cards, laughter, and lots of love. Birthdays are cozy, warm, and joyful in our house.

If mom was here, I would have taken the morning off of work and gone to lunch at Olive Garden with her (my treat for once). Our lunches are some of my best memories of our relationship. Our lunch would have consisted of mostly me talking about everything I could think of, and more than likely, Mom would tell me about her current book she was reading and this would take up half the lunch. It would be a good lunch, like they always were :]

Then me, Branden, Mom, Dad, and Clay would eat at 7 Salsas for dinner, and go home and open cards and give gifts. The dogs would of course give her a card. My card would look like a 5 year old drew it. Clay's would be funny, and Dad's would be silly and sweet. We'd have cake or some kind of dessert. We'd sing happy birthday, and it wouldn't sound very good since mom was the only one who could really sing. 

Nothing fancy, but full of love.

Today is a bittersweet day. I would give anything to be celebrating with my mom, rather than just remembering her today. We all miss her so much. This day will be a reminder of what we have lost, but always a day to remind us of how wonderful and amazing this woman was. 

Her life was much too short, but the life she lived was full of so much love, smiles, laughter, family, friends, and joy. 

Happy Birthday, Mom.