My Special Day

Leave a Comment / Grace, Holiday, Wonder / By

I heard the phone ringing when I came through the front door, so I made a mad dash for the bedroom. The machine and I picked up at the same time. I slapped at the on/off button and said, “Hello?”

A chorus of voices sang, “Happy Birthday to you! . . .”

Of course! A birthday call. This is, after all, my special day. As I listened I thought, “That sure sounds like Grace, but she’s in Italy, and who are all those other people singing with her?”

Turns out it was Grace, thinking of me on my special day. And all those other people were Eliza’s parents, who surprised them with their appearance, and some of their friends who rented out a vacation villa (“It’s really more like a small town,” Grace said) near Tuscany. These lovely people invited the girls to spend a few days in their small-townish vacation-ville dream world on a hill. “Yeah, Mom, it has a dozen buildings, including a tower,” Grace so generously shared with me on this my special day. The villatown is also surrounded by vineyards. Grace couldn’t find words to describe its romantic, storybook perfection, but she tried, because this is, after all, my special day.

Last year on my birthday Grace and my parents called from Paris, France, and sang to me. My daughter and my parents on my special day. Is it just me, or is a pattern developing here?

So. Another year. Another birthday. Another European adventure for my daughter and a simple East Texas celebration for me. But I’m honestly fine with that. The velvety red roses sitting beside me on the table, the phone calls and e-mails I’ve received today, and the sense of tremendous peace and blessing in my life fill me with immense gratitude.

Not that I’d shun a little frolic under the Tuscan sun, but I don’t need a villa on a hill to leave me speechless. I think Dorothy was onto something. If I can’t find my heart’s desire in my own backyard, I never lost it in the first place.

Heck, I don’t even have to go as far as the backyard. I find my heart’s desire in the eyes of the dear ones who love me so well. Today is my birthday, but every day is my special day.

0 thoughts on “My Special Day”

  10. cmortmain

    Happiest of birthdays!

    But next year, it’s your turn to do Europe!

    I’ve enjoyed reading about Grace’s travels so much. Steve and I went to Italy this summer, and we had a wonderful time. I never slept in a tent, though. The only roughing it I did was going three days without a change of clothes. (Delayed flight, night spent in Atlanta without luggage, luggage late getting to Rome.) Nothing as exciting as Grace’s adventures!

    Reply
  11. cmortmain

    Happiest of birthdays!

    But next year, it’s your turn to do Europe!

    I’ve enjoyed reading about Grace’s travels so much. Steve and I went to Italy this summer, and we had a wonderful time. I never slept in a tent, though. The only roughing it I did was going three days without a change of clothes. (Delayed flight, night spent in Atlanta without luggage, luggage late getting to Rome.) Nothing as exciting as Grace’s adventures!

    Reply
  12. cmortmain

    Happiest of birthdays!

    But next year, it’s your turn to do Europe!

    I’ve enjoyed reading about Grace’s travels so much. Steve and I went to Italy this summer, and we had a wonderful time. I never slept in a tent, though. The only roughing it I did was going three days without a change of clothes. (Delayed flight, night spent in Atlanta without luggage, luggage late getting to Rome.) Nothing as exciting as Grace’s adventures!

    Reply
  13. furiavriel

    i forgot… oops. but i did get you the present you asked for. i have yet to get a tattoo… aren’t you proud of me… i love you, and even though i forgot your birthday i remember your age. isn’t that sweet?

    i don’t know where you went wrong with us kids of yours, but wow, we sure are jerks, eh?

    l.l

    Reply
  14. furiavriel

    i forgot… oops. but i did get you the present you asked for. i have yet to get a tattoo… aren’t you proud of me… i love you, and even though i forgot your birthday i remember your age. isn’t that sweet?

    i don’t know where you went wrong with us kids of yours, but wow, we sure are jerks, eh?

    l.l

    Reply
  15. furiavriel

    i forgot… oops. but i did get you the present you asked for. i have yet to get a tattoo… aren’t you proud of me… i love you, and even though i forgot your birthday i remember your age. isn’t that sweet?

    i don’t know where you went wrong with us kids of yours, but wow, we sure are jerks, eh?

    l.l

    Reply
  25. jeannedamoff

    Re: Happiest of birthdays!

    Thanks!

    Maybe next year George and I will go. No tents, though. And plenty of baths. And clean clothes. I don’t think I could do it Grace’s way, but I’d love to see and experience the same places.

    Reply
  26. jeannedamoff

    Re: Happiest of birthdays!

    Thanks!

    Maybe next year George and I will go. No tents, though. And plenty of baths. And clean clothes. I don’t think I could do it Grace’s way, but I’d love to see and experience the same places.

    Reply
  27. jeannedamoff

    Re: Happiest of birthdays!

    Thanks!

    Maybe next year George and I will go. No tents, though. And plenty of baths. And clean clothes. I don’t think I could do it Grace’s way, but I’d love to see and experience the same places.

    Reply
  28. jeannedamoff

    You told me happy birthday on the phone two days early. And I told you not to send the gift you bought in Ireland–that I’d get it later. You aren’t nearly as jerky as you make yourself out to be.

    Good job on the no tattoos. Keep it up. Tattoo abstinence. It’s all the rage.

    Love,
    Momzy

    P.S. I often say “wow” when I think of my kids, but it’s a “Wow, they sure are amazing” kind of wow. xo

    Reply
  29. jeannedamoff

    You told me happy birthday on the phone two days early. And I told you not to send the gift you bought in Ireland–that I’d get it later. You aren’t nearly as jerky as you make yourself out to be.

    Good job on the no tattoos. Keep it up. Tattoo abstinence. It’s all the rage.

    Love,
    Momzy

    P.S. I often say “wow” when I think of my kids, but it’s a “Wow, they sure are amazing” kind of wow. xo

    Reply
  30. jeannedamoff

    You told me happy birthday on the phone two days early. And I told you not to send the gift you bought in Ireland–that I’d get it later. You aren’t nearly as jerky as you make yourself out to be.

    Good job on the no tattoos. Keep it up. Tattoo abstinence. It’s all the rage.

    Love,
    Momzy

    P.S. I often say “wow” when I think of my kids, but it’s a “Wow, they sure are amazing” kind of wow. xo

    Reply

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