For Otto’s birthday today, the rain came in buckets and barrels, the marathon ran by, the traffic was jammed and the party was cancelled. The last minute play date was put in the trash, the out-of-town guests were steered away from the door and the party provisions were overflowing with no one to eat them. Otto’s fever spiked, his cough bellowed but the band played on.
We gave Otto a Bat Cave and a Bat Mobile and a Light Saber and a day on the sofa with movies and TV and hugs and kisses and cuddles. Dave picked up the pre- ordered cake and the pre-ordered balloons, making our living room look like the inside of a clown car with no clowns. Otto never complained, he never whined and he smiled throughout his feverishly stormy fourth birthday with nothing but a cheerful attitude and a happy heart.
As the late afternoon wound down and we started the bedtime ritual, he turned to me with a smear of bright, aqua frosting on his upper lip and a smudge of satisfaction on his face and said, “Mommy, this was the best birthday I ever had in the whole world!”Looks like we all got gifts today. But mine was the best.
You are the light of my life and the fire at my campsite.
Happy Birthday, Monkey!
3 comments:
Lovely story, and a lesson for us all. Not that you'd get away with a birthday un-party every year, but having your undivided attention and a house full of loot seems to have been just perfect for a feverish big boy of four and his beloved parents.
I need to get me an umbrella like that!
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