40th Birthday

We played like kids!

On our actual birthday we played hard, together, just the three of us!  It worked out to be one of the greatest times with Tierc and Todd that I will treasure for a long time to come.  We played in a playground in the trees.  There were ziplines, tunnels, bridges, tarzan swings and ladders to climb.  We laughed, and we smiled.  It turned out to be the perfect day.  To be swinging in the trees with the changing colors of fall was awesome and vibrant and made you feel alive.  It was warm enough that your own exertion was your sweater, but cool enough when a breeze came through to lift  up your hair.  And helping each other with the pulleys, latches, and carabeaners made us laugh and move forward.  Forward to the next 40 years.

There is one swing, at the end, that almost did me in.  I have to admit I was tired, we had been doing this for almost 3 hours.  It was about 40 feet in the air.  It wasn't the swinging that had me worried (although stepping off into 40 feet of air wasn't without it's hesitation either); it was what came after that made me want to cry.  I would land in a rope ladder and have to climb my way up to the platform.  I was out of shape and I knew it, being tired didn't help.  But Todd pushed me off the platform and off I went!

The excitement of flying through the air was like none other.  Fun. Exhilerating. Freedom.  And then kerplunk, into the ladder and those thoughts flew away.  I had trouble climbing up.  Todd and Tierc could see from the platform that I was using my arms way more than my legs and that I needed to change it around.  If it weren't for them, I would have given up and called for help.  But I didn't want to disappoint them...and I knew I would be mad later on.  They gave me so much encouragement.  And finally I did it.  I don't really remember except for one last ditch effort that worked!  It wasn't pretty nor was it graceful.  I just have to content myself that I did it and I showed Tierc and Todd the version of what not to do.

It was the perfect way to spend our day together.  I know that when we were little we used to get Todd into our nightgowns and his nails painted.  But I knew that he was old enough to care and wouldn't let us take him to the spa! This was a great place to be, to celebrate our ascent to the next middle years of our lives.

On Saturday, we had a family dinner at our house.  We had a really good time.  My mom is so funny.  She brought each of the three of us our own cake!  She is too funny.  We really wouldn't have minded sharing one, but it was something she used to do when we were little, some thing special she could do for each of us, to show that we were individuals to her.  We embraced it and had fun having a sampler of all the cakes.  It was fun to have everyone (all 5 of the siblings together).

It was the first time I had seen Buff since the surgery to remove his kidney.  I think it was harder than I thought it was going to be.  There is a lot of emotions surrounding Buff's health right now with the kidney cancer and what will happen next.  I wasn't prepared for it.  I wasn't also prepared for Buff's subdued presence.  I was so glad to see him back "to his old self" later in the evening, dancing, and singing, and rapping.  (I really don't feel like it will ever be the same again).  However, I felt like things would be fine then.

I have lived an amazing 40 years and feel like I am one of the luckiest people in the world to have the love of a wonderful husband, three children who make me smile and proud everyday, and a family who knows and loves me for who and what I am.  I hope the next 40 are even better!