I am so thankful for my life. I have so much to be thankful for, so much that some will never experience, and in response to what I have been given I say, "Thank you" to God, my little family of Madge and Caleb, my parents for giving me life, my siblings for being with me from childhood until now (and again to my parents for giving me siblings), and my new family through marriage, and to such dear friends. How blessed I am. With each passing day and each passing year, I realize how blessed I am and how I should share my joys with others and show them how much I appreciate them and how much they are loved. I had a wonderful birthday on the 10th. Caleb had given me the wonderful gift of taking off the day of my birthday, the day after, and then he had that Friday off for his flex day. So, I thought, we would have some really special time as a family. I was right on the part of having special time, but there were a few others besides the three of us. On Tuesday evening, Maddy and I had stuck close to home and done a few things around here. Caleb was due back at around 7pm. Because I hadn't gone out for errands, the car was in its spot throughout the day, until I headed out around 5pm to take out trash. A few minutes before Maddy and I headed out to drop the trash in the dumpster, Maddy stood at our bedroom window and looked out saying, "Da-Da." I told her, "No, Daddy doesn't come home for a couple more hours. Then we headed outside, only to find that our car was gone. I had seen it all day sitting there, so I thought "Oh great, it's been stolen." I called Caleb immediately at work. No Answer. Then I tried his cell phone, which he answered and said that he was running errands. He had taken the early shuttle home to surprise me and picked up the car. So here Maddy really had seen Caleb out the window. Within 45 minutes, Caleb was home and I was preparing dinner. He asked if I wanted to make a bit more chicken, because he had plans for the next day. I told him I could make it later, since it was no big deal to defrost it and bake some more. Little did I know he was trying to subtly say: "Please make more. We're having company in 15 minutes." Sure enough, there was a knock at the door the eve of my birthday, and it was Caleb's day and his little sister and brother. They had driven 10 hours just to surprise me on my birthday. I was stunned, surprised, so happy. I was so touched. His little sister and Dad had to leave the day after my birthday, but Joe would stick around for a week. I got some great gifts, but they visit was amazing. That night Caleb's Dad surprised me with a crockpot (something I've been wanting to get) and brought handpicked apples so that he could make his special "Beeba Applesauce." So there he was at 9:30pm, peeling apples and starting the aromatic apple blend that would creep through our house throughout the night. The next morning I woke up to my sweet baby girl holding my face and kissing me. We went to 9am Mass and then headed down to Occoquan to this little park on the river where I opened my presents and ate homemade cupcakes. Afterwards we walked to my favorite shop in Occoquan, came home and prepared the lasagna for dinner, and then got changed to play Aussie tennis --Caleb, his Dad, and I--while Mary and Joe watched Maddy play at her favorite little park. I had a wonderful day filled with calls from family and notes from friends, cards, presents, and surrounded by the love of others. Thank you, everyone. I had a super day.
