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BIRTHDAY'S

You know, birthday's have never really bothered me until this year. I am not talking about my birthday, I am really talking about some of the children's birthdays. Over the years Merrill and I have grown nearly weary of people that seem to just not understand that our main goal with our children has always been to first give them a family that loves them and wants them and then to give them the childhood that they deserve.

Well, part of that mission includes birthdays. While we do not feel that each and every year there needs to be this outlandish party that involves everyone they know, we do feel that the birthday needs to be about them and them alone. This is one of the reasons that by the middle of May we are all so sick of cake and party stuff that we are all just going.....oh wow :o( another birthday. We have nearly non stop birthdays from mid March until mid May.

Okay, so this brings me to the real reason of the blog post. Joseph had his birthday March 15. He was 10 years old. First off, we had to wait until last week to have his party. You see, I had taken the time to find just the right gift for him, one that he would really love and that he would be able to enjoy. Little did I know that it would take forever to get here from England and that it would be damaged in shipping and thus sent out again....all while we waited.

Good news, Joseph did not grasp that we had skipped his birthday. Therefore he did not mind the month delay.

Now on with my dilemma and my "under the radar" sadness. We took time planning his party. We picked out the brightest of reds, the shinnest of yellows so he could see them all. McClain announced that Joseph wanted an ice cream cake this year. We fixed that "special" dinner. It was all festive.

Then it hit me like a ton of bricks. WHY??? Joseph can't even taste his special birthday dinner, muchless eat it. He sure can't taste his ice cream cake. You see, along with all of the other things that makes Joseph, Joseph, He can't eat and he can't drink. He does not process proteins nor can he really swallow. He has a trach and it is felt that he really does not have a sense of smell and add to that he is blind/deaf. Now you put all that together and it just made me feel really sad for him. I wonder, what is it like for him to have this birthday? Does he grasp that this special time is all about him? Does he understand at all that we want him to know he is a tad bit more special on his birthday? Does he begin to get that his life is a miracle and we are so blessed to have him alive and doing really pretty good?

My guess is that I will never really know the answers to these questions. All I know for sure is that we as his family will always try to make his life better. We will try to find the gifts that he will enjoy no matter what. So now as I move forward, it is time to plan yet another birthday celebration. Micah's birthday is in a few days. The good news, while Micah is a hard person to buy gifts for, as he is not on target at all for a young man who is about to turn 17, he does in fact enjoy food and he loves his cake and ice cream :o)

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Comments

Tammy said…
You know, just the fact that you get all that you said makes each one of your children's birthdays so special. I have to believe that on some level, because of God, your children do understand that it is a special day just for them. That's why you do what you do and that's why God gave you the children he did. I Love you sissy. You are the best!
5:41 PM
Anonymous said…
And who knows who else in the family you are impacting with the message that everyone is worthwhile and special. Even Joseph is worth a celebration. Your family is celebrating his life, even if he isn't eating that cake. Karen
9:30 AM
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