Yesterday was the first of all the ‘firsts’ - Mom’s birthday. We always celebrated her day and we were so fortunate that a couple of the celebrations were with most of the family. She would have loved going to Ruth Chris. Larry drank a margarita for her.  We all cheered to her with our drinks.  I had let the restaurant that it was a birthday celebration and when I realized that they planned to sing, I had to let them know that we were celebrating with her in heaven  

As Mom got older, It got difficult to buy gifts for her because she had everything and if she needed/wanted it, she went ahead and bought it. But- it was so important for her to be able to open gifts. She told us that one of her earliest memories was at Christmas, the adults were teasing her about opening a gift and the gift they selected was big and it rattled!  However, when she opened it, she remembered getting so embarrassed because it was a potty chair with a penny in it. She also remembered many gifts of underwear.  So while I wanted to gift her with fun experiences, I always had to have something that she could open and be excited about. 

This year, we were taking her to Branson to see ‘Jesus’ at the sight and sound theatre. I never even told her about that. Marcie, Larry and I will still go.