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::