"Happy Birthday To Me (and Mom and Pops)...."

Well today I turn 32.....yup I have taken 32 trips around the sun. I remember when I was a child, the weeks leading up to my birthday were filled with excitement and joy. There were parties to plan, wish lists to make, deciding what I wanted on my cake.....so many decisions. Family parties were always a big deal on my birthday because I was born on my mother's birthday and she was born on her father's birthday. That's right, 3 generations on the same day :)


I couldn't think of two more perfect people to share my birthday with. My mother is one of my heroes, someone I strive to be like every day. She is a teacher (as am I), put her career on hold to raise her children (as am I) and family means more to her than anything (the same for me). I can't imagine my mother having to spend her whole birthday in labor (I was born at 10:50 at night). But she did it and says that I was one of her greatest birthday gifts, her first born.

My Pops was one of my favorite people on the planet. I can still feel his coarse fingers as he rubbed my back or pinched my shoulder. He too was a family man and always made sure to spend as much time with us as he could. We had many happy summer days at the lake, he came to most of our sporting events and was there whenever my parents needed a baby sitter. He died just before his 76th birthday, this year he would be 89 :)

This year, my birthday kind of snuck up on me. With the baby coming, taking a class and putting so much energy into making sure that Z has a great summer, I wasn't thinking too much about my birthday. Besides, once you get older, they don't seem to really matter that much any more. However, I would like to thank my mom and Pops for so many wonderful birthdays and let them know that it is an honor to share such a special day with them!

Happy Birthday!!!