Even in bad times, birthdays special

Grandson Jacob turns 11 this week. Due to the travel restrictions and other reasons, we won’t be able to share it with him in person this year. 

 When I asked him what he wanted for his birthday, he said he wanted  a waterproof aerator. That was not what I expected. I asked him to elaborate and he said he wanted it for a water trough. That answer just confused me. There was a lot of background noise so I left it at that.

 Later, I asked his mom what he wanted. She said that he goes fishing in the creek and brings his bounty home where he puts it in the horse trough. The aerator was to help keep the fish alive. Now that makes sense. When my brother, Michael was little, he would go fishing in Grandma’s creek. He would bring his catches home and put them in the metal wash tubs. 

 When it was time to do laundry, Mom made him take the fish back to the creek and clean out the tubs. In many ways, Jacob and Michael are alike. I wish we lived closer so they could know each other. I think they would both get along well.

 Since an aerator was currently out of the question, Jacob’s mom had him pick out a couple of fishing lures he wanted. She said it was better for him to choose something that had product codes, specific colors and enough information so that I could click on the link and order them from Amazon. I ordered two ugly lures. One was a really large spider and the other looked like some kind of fish skeleton. They didn’t fit in the first box I found so I tried taking them out of the packaging. This was not a good idea as it exposed the fish hooks. Back in the packaging they went. I began a hunt for a slightly bigger box.

 I settled on a box that had been Mom’s.

It held a collection of metal embroidery hoops and some things that I had no idea what they were. I found a place to put the hoops and other stuff. The walk up to the post office was on a day that was beautiful and relatively warm. After I mailed the package, I walked on over to the park and back. We are fortunate to have safe places to walk. Many towns do not.

 A couple of days later my daughter posted a video of Jacob opening his presents. He seemed really pleased at what I sent. I am looking forward to seeing what he catches with his new lures.

 Youngest grandson, Nicholas, is next on the Texas birthday list. He seems convinced that I will never run out of the little cars he likes. It’s a good thing I pick up one or two whenever I go to the store. I hope he doesn’t ask for an aerator.

 Closer to home, my hubby turns another year older next week. Neither of us can believe that we are as old as we are. Once upon a time we thought 30 was old. That was several lifetimes ago. I get tickled when we go to the store and the baby-faced cashier asks if we are over 21. 

 With each birthday comes more opportunities to show our loved ones that we love them. For some, that means new lures. For others a simple night out is enough. 

 Birthdays are special to us. They mark our lives, year by year. Some years are blessedly dull. Other years are filled with enough chaos to do us a lifetime. Medical problems, financial surprises, new babies, and any number of challenges feel like they will break us.

Even in the worst of years there are small blessings that help us realize that nothing is forever except our love for each other.