“You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.” Les Brown
I love celebrating birthdays. While I know that all days are special, I love the planning, purchasing special trinkets and preparing delicious meals for our guests to ooh and ahh over. Though it was Mother’s Day weekend, my mind was on the planning of our very special princess’ birthday party.
THE PLANNING
Initially we weren’t planning on doing anything big, but life’s circumstances demanded a celebration! A marketing professional by trade, I couldn’t wait to design the birthday invitation. I poured over the 5 million pictures that we have of her and tried to find a way to incorporate them all. Once that was completed, my mind turned to the guest list. Our house isn’t a mansion, so we had to be careful!
THE EVENT
The day of the event, I worried about the rain. We were expecting a thunderstorm and I just knew that it was going to ruin our event. After all, we had rented a bouncer ( provided by JJ’s Jumping Party Rental) for the kids to play in, purchased fantastic cupcakes (provided by CakeLuv) and my husband planned to fire up the grill. Thankfully, God wanted to party as well. Of the invited guests, most showed up, excited to celebrate with us. The event was especially special because my parents and sister came from Georgia to celebrate. They didn’t get an opportunity to see our daughter in the hospital and I am sure the distance between Georgia and Michigan made them worry even more.
After all of the guests arrived, we brought everyone together for prayer. My husband and I weren’t attempting to relive our daughter’s episode, but we felt that we had to let everyone know that their prayers and well wishes meant the world to us. Holding hands, our Pastor/my Father-in-Law reminded us of the seriousness of her deficiency and to value the importance of parenthood and life.
The rest of the event was spent laughing and eating and laughing some more. The cupcake we got her was smashed and played with more than it was actually eaten, but it was good to see her try new things. My good friend Kyra made a fantastic chocolate cake for the adults…super delicious!
The event was a perfect way to celebrate and I look forward to planning more birthday parties. As I closed my eyes at the end of the evening, I told myself that although we almost lost that opportunity, God sent our blessing back so that she could receive all of the love and attention that our family and close friends have to offer. Life is precious!
The Workin' Mama 