Greg made my birthday special for so many years; even tonight, the Dodgers miraculously won their 2nd post-season game from behind in the bottom of the 9th. Tonight, I was able to make my birthday a special day for so many of the children I work with. As part of Family Reading Night at our school, I made over 80 cupcakes: we read the book If You Give a Cat a Cupcake, and decorated cupcakes in two thirty minute sessions. Before I read, I asked the students what they thought would happen if you give a cat a cupcake. One little boy was definitely channeling Greg when he yelled out, "He'll get diarrhea and then he'll DIE!"
This is the first year my birthday wasn't all about me (just mostly about me). Maybe it's the passing of the torch, but it made me better to see those kids' faces filled with light. I still miss my dad so much, but tonight he didn't feel so far away...
A few birthday memories:
1. Going to the Queen Mary for an overnight sleepover and searching for ghosts.
2. Italian party (Godfather homage, girlie style) in the backyard.
3. Greg videotaping my birthday guests in a police-style lineup against the wall at the duplex.
4. Greg and Sharon driving down to San Diego to take me out to lunch, and bringing a helium balloon for my apartment.
5. Last year, in Ventura, when Greg and Sharon spent the night in a hotel and Dillon (and the dog) slept over in the living room...after we all had a wonderful birthday dinner homemade by Sharon.
