(picture from last year…still looking for a disk with more recent pics)
Grow old along with me!
The best is yet to be, the last of life, for which the first was made.
~Robert Browning
It is once again that time of year to rejoice in the birth of my beloved. To thank God for this precious gift…and to also be thankful that she is 8 months older than me and I have that time to give her a hard time about being older than me! Woo-hoo…I’m the young one in the relationship again, Mary is the cradle-robber!!!
A diplomat is a man who always remembers a woman’s
birthday but never remembers her age.
~Robert Frost
Guess it will never be said that I am diplomatic!
This past Saturday we got together to have an adults-only birthday dinner in honor of my sweet wife. My sister Abby and her husband Mike, James and Julie, and Jeff and Keri joined us to eat good food and enjoy good company. My intention was to allow Mary to enjoy the day without having to do a lot of work so in addition to having the other guests bring food items I decided to grill chicken breasts. As is my custom I loaded the grill with Match Light charcoal and set it alight, to blaze high and fast until it was ready to cook on. Moments after lighting it I walked on to my back deck to hear my neighbors exclaim that my house was on fire. I denied this, pointing to the grill. They insisted, pointing to the same spot and then realized that I was indeed grilling. We suspect that the fire was reflected in the basement window which caused them to think we were about to go up in a firey blaze. They next had to inform us that they had called the fire department.
Much to our intense enjoyment the fire department, police department, and the ambulance showed up to wish my wife a ‘Happy Birthday’. They got a good laugh also and we informed our extremely apologetic neighbors that we did indeed appreciate their care and concern and hope this incident doesn’t dampen future enthusiasm should our house actually be on fire!
Unfortunately the two people I counted on to have their digital cameras ready did not and so Keri was relagated to event photographer with her cell phone camera.
Mary, you are as precious to me as ever and our life together is so much more than anything I could ever have on my own. I could not imagine living without your love and companionship. Your laugh is magical, your love intoxicating, and your life is an example to me of all that is right in the world. I hope you enjoy your special day.
Believing hear, what you deserve to hear:
Your birthday as my own to me is dear…
But yours gives most; for mine did only lend
Me to the world; yours gave to me a friend.
~Martial
____________________________
And as it always happens on March 21st, today is also my brother Jason’s birthday. I am destined to never forget either of their birthdays…or else I could forget both which would be doubly bad!. When I did this post for my brother’s birthday last year he and his family lived in our home town in Nebraska. They have since moved to Columbia, Missouri, only an hour and a half away, so we get to see each other a little more than we used to but still not often enough.
Having a younger brother so close in age meant that life growing up was an adventure. From damming up the creek to go skinny-dipping (which no doubt thrilled the farmers whose cows had brief stints without water) to roaming the woods around our house, summer days were never boring, at least not for long. Nights were often spent giggling about something or other which illicted yells and eventually threats from our poor parents who no doubt wanted a few moments peace before they to went to bed.
It was great growing up with a brother because having that bond with someone always meant that you were a little bit more brave in standing up for yourself…you always knew that you had someone in your corner. In our less than humble opinion I’m sure Jason and I believed that we ruled our small neighborhood. At the very least when things turned ugly (as often happens when kids spend significant time together) we always backed each other up. Of course we then fought each other tooth and nail at times but that is all forgotten when the threat is against your flesh and blood.
Inside every older person is a younger person –
wondering what the hell happened.
~Cora Harvey Armstrong
Although my daugther is an only child and claims that she likes it that way I am extremely thankful that I had a brother to grow up with (and a baby sister too!). I would not trade all the special childhood memories we have for anything.
Happy Birthday Jason. Look forward to seeing you this weekend. I love you very much and even though you’re my only one I still think you are the greatest brother in the world.
_________________________
My wish to you both and to everyone else is best expressed by Mr. Swift:
May you live all the days of your life.
~Jonathan Swift
(emphasis mine)
Though I don’t know Mary, it’s not difficult to imagine what she might be like, through the gentleness and love of your words. You two are clearly made for each other, so aside from a Happy Birthday, I’ll just say I hope that you continue to make each other as happy as you have been for all this time.
And Happy Birthday Jason!!
All the very best to Mary and Jason.
The first (full) day of spring and their birthday? Beautiful.
Happy Birthday Mary and Jason.
And enjoy being the youngster Carl 🙂
Happy Birthday,Mary. How funny about the fire department!!! You are loved so much and appreciated greatly. You have such a gentle caring spirit. My son is a lucky,lucky man!!! See you soon-if we can dig out of all this snow!! Love you lots!!
Happy birthday ,Jason. You are a terrific son! I do remember you and Carl’s antics growing up-those times go by fast but leave great memories! Have a great day and know we love you and are so proud of you!!!
Happy Birthday Mary and Jason! Carl, as always, a wonderful post that shows your love for your family 🙂
Happy Birthday Uncle Jason. Hope it’s a good one.
Love Ya,
Tori
Hope this birthday is better than the party was. Maybe this time you won’t put so much candles on your cake that the neighbors have to call the fire dept. I LOVE YOU LOTS. Happy Birthday Mom.
Tori
Happy Birthday Mary! I hope you have a delightful day. I am very thankful to call you a friend.
Oh, and happy birthday Jason!
(sigh) That is just so nice. One day I will find a man who will write nice things about me… so far its hard enough to find a man who CAN read and write. Happy Birthday, Mary!
Thanks for all the kind wishes, everyone.
Carl, you are such a great husband. Thanks for making my birthday so wonderful (flashing lights and everything).
Happy birthday to a great (younger) brother-in-law.
Happy Birthday Jason & Mary!! I love you both so very much. I can’t wait for the upcoming weekend to spend time together.
Mary – as we rounded the curve going up McArthur (is that the correct street?), Mike and I saw an ambulance with it’s lights on. He shut his lights off, though, and started to pull away we neared. I had in the back of my mind – what if something happened to Carl & Mary??? But, the thought quickly left. Then we started to turn onto 17th street. And as we got full view of your yard, we saw all the emergency personnel. Now that I think back, I wish I would have yelled, “Alright! They hired exotic dancers for the party!”
Jason (and Carl) – the farmers were probably laughing at you since their cows peed & pooped in that creek!!!
Happy Birthday Mary!
I hope you and your hubby had a wonderful day together. Keri and I have truely enjoyed getting to know you this last year and I hope we get to enjoy many more birthday’s with you for years to come. Of course I don’t think the neighbors need to call out the fire department each year for your birthday but hey it was funny. They, who ever they are, always say it’s not really a party unless the cops show up. 🙂
Better than any birthday card…
Happy birthday Mary! Hope your birthday is filled with wishes!
Happy Birthday Jason!
happy birthday!
hmm.. firemen showing up on your birthday?… i may have to invest in a grill next week..
sounds like a good day to me! lol
Unfortunately for the girls none of the guys looked like the Chippendale variety to me, more like the Full Monty.
well, maybe the hoosier ones will be a little hunkier..
Happy birthday, Mary. 🙂
Heya Vic!
Thanks for coming up to the Great White North to say hello! Actually there’s no snow left, to the chagrin of skiiers and snowboarders. I just saw the pic of your lovely family. You must be a happy (and proud) guy. Even though we don’t actually know each other, what you wrote to your wife really moved me. I’m sentimental like that. I hope I have a family one day (jeez, I turned 42 on March 22!).
Is that really you in the picture? Man, I’ve got a beard and wear glasses, too. Gotta check into that – it might be a genetic thing with geeks! By the way, I tend to ramble on a lot. I try to restrain myself but it’s tough.
I read your bio. There’s one aspect where we differ. While you were walking in the woods, I was skulking with my friends through back alleys and lanes (usually looking for bad guys). Montreal is a huge city. In American History (I got an A+ – ask me anything. Go ahead.) we learned that the US had a “melting pot” culture (i.e.: everyone is American), while Canada was a “mosaic” (i.e.: were Canadian but retain our heritage – “Ukranian-Canadian”, “Lebanese-Canadian” and so on). I read somewhere that Montreal is one of the most culturally rich cities in North-America. I had friends from every culture imaginable. I’m Irish-Canadian myself, but I speak fluent French by default – I was born in Quebec. I went to a high-school that was predominantly Italian (99%) so I picked up some Italian. I’m not a polyglot by any stretch of the word, but I get along.
Right now, I do computer art (self-taught & most of it looks kinda static), but I’ll be going to a real school next Winter studying in a program called “Animation for Games and Film”. Now that’s gonna be cool! ($16,000 CAN – ouch!). I’ve also been writing since, oh, a long time. Some stuff was printed, most wasn’t. I have a few novels on the back burner. One story involves three monks during the Middle Ages. I’ve got nearly 250 pages of research and about a dozen pages of story. The other two are, of course, science-fiction. One about a pirate captain/secret agent, the other about a “new race” of humans called recombinants (not replicants like in Blade Runner).
While I’ve got a captive American audience, I’d like to clear up a few “misunderstandings” about Canadians. I’ve been to the States 5 or 6 times and have heard the weirdest questions. No, we don’t all live in igloos and we don’t have 400 lbs polar bears as pets. Our cities are pretty much like American cities and you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between a Canadian farm and an American one. We don’t use shells as currency. We don’t let wolves raise our children (although sometimes I think maybe we should – darned Goths!). We don’t have Winter all year ’round. During the Summer our temperatures can get up to 40 degrees Celsius – which is like a billion degrees Farenheit!
Most importantly, we like Americans … a lot. We think Americans are a kind, generous and honourable people. It’s just … well – some of your presidents make us kinda nervous. (Let’s send a shout out to Dubya – aw, maybe not).
To end (finally, eh?) I noticed your taste in music is much like mine. If I may, I’d like to suggest you try listening to Sarah McLachlan. She’s Canadian, a lot of her music has a Celtic influence and her voice, oh her voice … Ahhh, it’s downright angelic! BTW I didn’t get the Firefly images I wanted, but I’ve got Linda Bergkvist’s “Porcelain” on my desktop. What an exceptional artist. I had to enlarge it and lost some resolution but it was worth it.
As we say in French, “A la prochaine, mon ami!” (Until next time my friend).
Thanks for sharing Luke. Despite the fact that I find the South Park song “Blame Canada” quite funny I have nothing personal against Canadians. And I LOVE Sarah Mclachlan.
If you go to Linda B’s site there is a much larger version of Porcelain…and all the other images and more…in the gallery section. Porcelain is in the azure section of the gallery.
Continued luck on your artistic endeavors, I hope the schooling ends up being a valuable experience for you.