Birthdays

Birthdays come and go. They were exciting at 16 and under, but the higher the numbers go the less exciting or anticipated they are. We've had so many birthdays they're old hat by now and we'd rather ignore than celebrate them. But ignoring birthdays doesn't stop them from coming so you might as well face the facts and admit the truth.

My birthday and Leroy's are just three days apart, on the 14th and 17th. However, he is four years older than me. Every time the numbers rolled over to start a new decade, it didn't seem as bad because he was four years ahead of me.  This year he got a kick out of telling people that we had our first date when I was 17 and now we turned the numbers around. If you remember your grade school math, you can figure out what number he reached today.

Although we had nothing to do with when we were born, it is convenient for a couple tightwads like us to have our birthdays close together. We usually have a gift card or two for a restaurant and use one to celebrate both our birthdays on one card. In addition, having December birthdays makes it convenient to give each other a gift that serves for both birthday and Christmas. We both prefer to give and get gifts that are practical and useful rather than luxury items, although that has happened occasionally. 

This year it seemed appropriate to recognize Leroy's birthday in a special way so we made plans for an office party. I was working on making five pies this morning when he left for work: apple, cherry crumb, pumpkin, shoofly, and lemon meringue. 

Gene ordered eight pizzas and I took chips, drink, the pies and ice cream in to the office at noon. It was a special treat to have lunch with my husband and son. He is celebrated and officially 75. I can hardly believe that number! But facts are facts and we are very blessed to have all these years together.