We celebrated our youngest's 15th birthday as planned and in our family tradition. There were balloons at his special seat at the dinner table. There was his requested birthday meal and cake (Kentucky Fried chicken and an ice cream cake were his choices...I threw in chicken spaghetti, pomegranates, and Russian carrot salad for good measure). After dinner, we lit the candles on his cake and sang the two birthday songs that our family always celebrates with. Then he opened his gifts from his sibs and Mom and Dad. Before the actual day, he checked the mail regularly to see if there were birthday cards from family and was thrilled about the cash gifts he received...asked me to help him tell Grandma and his aunts and uncles thanks from him.
As for me, I just kept thinking about all the birthdays he had with none of those little traditions...no parties or presents, no cake, no special treatment in the orphanage. He came to us at age 11...we've had just a few short years to make up for all the missed birthdays, to give him a sense of belonging, a real family...and now he knows just what will happen on his birthday...and that it will be his special day. My hope is that he will carry these memories and traditions in his heart for the rest of his life. I hope the memories help him to realize that whatever his life was like before he came to us, he is here now and he is much loved.
Never forget, my boy, we chose you to be our son....and we're so glad you agreed to be a part of our family! Happy birthday, sweet boy!!
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| Cake and presents... |
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| Don't you love these smiles? |
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| A personal DVD player and some movies, too! |
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| His own beanbag chair...perfect for TV and videogames! |
1 comment:
What a beautiful family, with Lot's of love and rich stories to boot! I must agree with the choice of KFC. It is finger licking good!!!!
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