Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Birthday

Today is Sue's birthday.  She would be 48 today.  She would not like me telling you that.  If she was here, I would call her sometime in the mid-morning and sing "Happy Birthday" to her.  She would say, "Yeah, yeah, don't rub it in."

Then we would start to discuss her birthday dinner.  Our sister, Kate, Sue, and I would pick a date in the near future to get together and go out to dinner.  Sue would spend days deciding on the restaurant. Every time we would talk in the next week or two (however long until the dinner) she would bring up the dinner. "I'm thinking of having the Shrimp Alfredo!" she might say, or "How was the lasagna that time you had it?"

The day after her birthday we would talk about it again.  She would tell me what her little girls made for her, what her boys did or bought her.  She would mention the gift her husband had given her.  At some point in the birthday discussions, she would quote our dad. "Getting old is much better than the alternative!" She would laugh.

It is hard and strange to try to decide how to celebrate someone's birthday when they aren't there.  The day is for her, about her, but we can't share it with her.

Today, I'm just not sure what to do.

Happy Birthday, Sue.  I love you.

3 comments:

  1. Thanks for blogging on such a hard day! Love you !!!!!!!!!!!!

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  3. I'm sorry for the empty spaces, Andi.

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