Thursday, November 5, 2009

Overwhelmed

Gratitude.

I hardly trust my voice to speak,
therefore it is a good thing this is a blog
and I can express my deepest,
most overwhelmed,
grateful,
heartfelt
THANK YOU
to my sweet family.


This arrived in the mail today.
What's This? I thought.

delivery confirmation??? why???

It is not a special occasion.
My birthday is a month away.
That is what threw me off guard.

Upon opening it, there was that beautiful red folder.

Still wondering what this son and daughter-in-law were sending me,
these thoughts went through my mind:
I wondered what special thing had happened in their family to merit this.
Their oldest graduated from Kindergarten last year, so that's not it.
They just announced they are expecting their 5th child in May,
so it wasn't some sort of announcement. . .
They usually they send greetings at Christmas, Birthdays,
Valentines,
Mother's and Father's days
and thank you notes.

I opened it with shaky hands, but what I saw next made me sit down.
(you can click on the pictures to see closer)

And as I turned the pages,
my vision was blurred with tears.

I LOVE Mannheim Steamroller Christmas!!!
And Abravanal Hall is so wonderful.
I have sung there many times, but only once before
have I been in the audience and got to truly appreciate its beauty!

but that's not all. . .

And as I read through the sweet pages,
I had to flee for a Kleenex or three.

How SWEET IS THIS?
a little extra $ for incidentals.
And see those beautiful gold envelopes
and the gilded pages?

Let me just say, I have been dreading this next birthday.
It is that milestone that always connotes
OLD
I don't care how many ways you put it,
it is just plain OLD
and nothing can redeem that.
AARP sends you stuff.
Your SS starts threatening to kick in.
Retirement looms ahead
along with all the ill effects of
OLD AGE.
It is over the halfway mark*.

I cried at 25.
I was fine by 30 but struggled again at 40
then 50 (*I consider this halfway)
I was bemoaning 50
to my friend Zoe. . .

. . .until she told me that
she LOVED being 50!!!
she explained:
Your kids are grown,
You can talk to them as adults

you are getting grandchildren soon,
(if you don't already have them)

It is all so wonderful!!!


And you know what? She was SO RIGHT.

This last 10 years have been amazing.
We have witnessed the marriage of all our children
to wonderful mates
They are living really upright and righteous lives
finishing school and
getting wonderful jobs.

They are raising beautiful, intelligent, and DARLING
Children =Grandchildren for us.

It is amazing and very sweet.
and they are really wonderful people.

I already knew that, but here is just one more way
that shows how fabulous they are.


After reading this,
I wanted to get on the phone right away
and thank them all in person.

But calling my husband was hard enough through my tears.
I just couldn't control myself to talk.

He was alerted when he heard my sniffs and sobs
(He thought someone had died.)
I knew that is how he would react.

So calling my children just wouldn't work just yet. . .
. . .not right now, anyway.

When I gain my composure, sweet Children
I will call each one of you
to thank you for your contribution
and your most kind words.

I hope all reading this are having a wonderful day
~a
::flees the room for another Kleenex::

17 comments:

Sailor said...

It's true - I did wonder if someone had died. Annie and I had been talking on the phone about 10 minutes earlier, and then when she called back I could tell she was REALLY shaky and crying and she said between the sobs that she didn't trust herself to talk just yet. Yikes!!

So Dear Kids, One and All, I will also thank you for your thoughfullness and generosity, and for makeing it a special day. You are very sweet, and neither of us will forget this day, or your thoughtfullness.

Grandma Cebe said...

What a wonderful birthday gift, youngster. Since you are younger than me, I can say that. Have a great evening.

Andrew said...

Big thanks to Caren for putting the whole thing together—from buying the tickets, collecting the cash, to putting the packet together.

Hope this is the best 60th birthday you'll ever have! ;)

Caren said...

Oh, I'm so glad it got there safely! And so soon, too! I hope you enjoy your special evening and that it makes this birthday a wonderful one. We think you deserve it!

The Stanworths said...

I love it!!! You are such a special person and you are loved by so many people me included!! I can not wait to read about your fantastic day! Happy Birthday a little early.

Jenny said...

Happy early birthday and we hope it is wonderful!

ZB said...

Well see??? It is all good! That is a very sweet collective happy perfect gift! And you do not have to store it, gain weight on it, or anything! How wonderfully fun… I just think that is too sweet! I printed it out to show mom.

You know it is odd, I have never had a fear of any age. I marveled at how I felt the same at 30 as I had at 21… Mom was with me that birthday and said she still felt 21 inside too… I have never really much thought about any age. Just want to keep experiencing and celebrating.

Annieofbluegables said...

Thank you, one and all for your kind remarks and Caren, thank you for such an elegant and beautiful gift. I am so humbled by such a thoughtful thing.
You did such a beautiful and thoughtful job. I will treasure it forever.
~a

Significant Snail said...

What a fabulous, sweet, wonderful, loving family you have made! They are so creative! I want to cry just reading and looking! Happy Birthday (early)!!

Christine Poulsen said...

How very blessed you are. Is it not wonderful to have a family who loves you as much as you obviously love them. Best wishes with the coming birthday and have a blast on your trip. Thanks for being my friend.

Brenda said...

How exciting to receive such a special gift! Congratulations and Have fun! What a wonderful family!

Thanks for stopping by and visiting! It is a pleasure to meet you! Come by anytime, we share alot of the same joys in life!

How neat you made The Be Attitudes quilt! Wow, I can't imagine making that quilt more then once, you are amzaing!

That quilt felt like it took forever and ever! Come follow my blog and I will follow yours!

Cheers to new Friends!
Brenda
deckthehalls-christmas.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

New to your site -- love loved what your dear children did for your B-day for the wonderful 50. By the end of this month I'll be the same age -- "life is good and we are blessed to be 50 years old" hehe --May you be blessed to sing many more years. I'll be back again!
Kristeen (The Gough Inn) kandgough@gmail.com

Renee said...

I can't think of two finer people to enjoy your night on the town. Congratulations on being 60. Many would be grateful to live to 60 with good health and a lovely family such as you have. I really do not mind getting old. It is a privilege and a blessing to be alive. So celebrate with relish and joy as you enjoy a lovely dinner and concert. Happy birthday on December 1st. Many, many thanks to your hubby for fixing my Moms chain saw so she can continue to enjoy her older years. Your kindness is far reaching to people you have not even met. Kindness to a Mother or Father effects generations. Thankyou,
Love Renee

BFF Zoe said...

Dear Annie,
I'll watch for notes from your blog. Thank you for your kind thoughts. You know, I think of you often too and always remember your birthday. Wouldn't it be nice if I had ever let you know that? I have been looking forward to being 60 since I was 40. Somehow, I have an association with being 60 of everything wonderful - like I finally get to be a grown up or something. I think women in their 60s are beautiful, intelligent, accomplished, free, and they have a lot of savvy. And they usually have grandchildren, and that makes them wealthy. So I guess I'm looking forward to all those things. I plan to bound out of bed on November 12th and go to an early morning weight lifting class. The rest of the day will probably be kind of normal, but I still can't wait.
There is something that I have not been appropriately grateful for, and that is the gift of friendship - especially a friend like you. I have discovered that it is rare to not only know, but to also like and be in touch with friends whose friendship began in grade school. (Can you believe we have been friends for 55 years?) Wow - are we cool or what?
Thank you for the jewel of your frienship.
Love,
Zoe

Gina said...

What a precious gift! I'm in tears too-thanks for sharing this today!

Anonymous said...

How beautiful that your children spent so much time and thought into this meaningful gift for you. They must love you!!!!!

Happy birthday!

nannykim/spindlecottage said...

what a wonderful idea!!!

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