6th
September 4, 2010
Edit: Thanks for the tip Rick!
Wow, I haven’t visited Facebook in quite a while. I just checked my email this morning and it said I have tons of messages in FB from Saturday (which for those of you who haven’t figured it out, it was my birthday). I want to thank each and every one of you personally for your birthday wishes and I want you all to know I love you very much!
I sometimes wonder why anybody really has a birthday when their other is the one who went through the labor of having and raising you; perhaps it should be there day instead. Well regardless; you all are great and I can’t believe I got so many great birthday wishes; many on my wall and many through a message; thanks! I’ve replied to all of you personally but wanted to reply to you all as a group as well.
My day went well on Saturday. I figured I’d sleep a little later than usual and woke up around 11:30 and checked my text messages; my first birthday wish came from my brother, Craig. That’s not surprising; he’s always been one of the first to send me a birthday wish every year; I know he loves me very much and I love him just as much. Thanks Craig, for always being there!
A few hours later mama called telling me to be ready and to choose a restaurant. I chose one of my favorites; Red Lobster! I love crab legs and while their cheese biscuits aren’t as good as mama’s, they are still quite delicious! So mama and Jack were there within a few minutes and brought my gifts (although I told her I only wanted to spend time with her). She knows me very well; my favorite gift (strangely) is socks. I’d also been considering a new journal to write in only two days earlier and told absolutely no one about it, it was just a random thought; one with a leather cover and a built in satin bookmark. Only God truly knows that it was on my mind and can you believe that the exact journal was in my bag of gifts?!? I also got a few other gifts that are quite useful and greatly appreciated (thanks mama).
The one physical gift that I got from her that meant the most was the birthday card. Most of you know that she had a stroke on August 9th of last year and while she’s doing much better physically, her communication skills, including speaking and writing, still require work (and her speech therapist is doing a great job with her on that) and improves little by little everyday; she’s a very hard worker. It’s difficult for her to write but she does her best with every word.
The card itself was perfect for me and meant a lot. The meaningful part of the card came at the end and was written by my very own mother in beautiful handwriting which read:
I LOVE YOU!
Mama and Jack
Well mama, I love you too; you’re my best friend and always will be. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, you aren’t only my mother, you’re also my father and my friend as well. You’ve come a long way in a little over a year and I’m glad to have been a part of your therapeutic process to overcome that tragic day; but I sometimes feel that your stroke has only brought us closer together and I thank God for that as we’ve spent a lot more time together due to therapy and doctor visits.
Anyway, we sat around a moment reminiscing about a few memories and then made our way to Red Lobster at around 2:00 (a great time to go as we had no wait time). While I normally order a full pound of snow crab legs I instead opted for a plate of chicken fingers and a half pound of snow crab legs (which turned out to be cheaper than my normal meal). They brought their famous cheese biscuits and a salad for me and mama and then not long after they brought the main course out. Everything was delicious but I’ve never expected anything less from them. We spoke of the past and had quite a few laughs together; priceless moments over a great meal.
A funny story; I kind of told on myself (it’s a long story) about it being my birthday but it didn’t bother me that I knew they’d come and sing to me. The strange part is that only two booths down got a birthday song moments before they began to leave. What are the odds of that? I mean, I know many people who share my birthday, most of them personally (Flip Moore, Chip Freeman, Jason Jennings, and an ex-coworker had his baby 2 years ago on September 4th) and then a few celebrities as well (Beyonce Knowles & Ty Longley – former lead guitarist for Great White that died in the infamous concert fire in Florida along with many fans; luckily I got to see him in concert a few years before, R.I.P.), but a random stranger meeting at the same restaurant, at the same time, only two booths down from our own; that’s ironic.
The end of our meal came and I required a to-go box (as usual). As I was neatly putting all of my food in the boxes (salad in one and part of my main course – excluding the crab legs which were all gone – in the other) the group of waitresses gathered around. I pleasantly asked them to hang on for one split second as I wanted to enjoy my birthday song and I finished as quickly as possible before politely telling them to proceed.
Our waitress asked for my name and I said “Jonathan” as I was gathering up my food. Of course I was joking around with her the entire time to keep a smile on her face so she thought I was still joking; she asked my mother if I was telling the truth and she agreed as we all laughed. They began and I made it a point to look at each of them in the eyes with a “thank you” smile to let them know I was enjoying it and then clapped at the end and said thank you.
Mama and I shared the ice cream together which was topped with whip cream and one of my favorites; hot fudge! In my younger days I wouldn’t be caught dead eating ice cream and you still won’t see me eating birthday cake. I’d never had a sweet tooth, even as a little kid. Things have changed over the past year so mother and I enjoyed as much as we could before we were about to explode.
Being a former waiter myself, I had setup all of the remaining dishes and napkins and set them up in a fashion to make it easier to bust the table after we’d left. We made our exit to a wonderful afternoon sky, another sweet miracle gift from the good Lord above, and rode off with a belly full of food and continued to enjoy the company of one another on the way home.
Thank you God for allowing me to see another day and another year! Thank you mama for always supporting me, showing me unconditional love, and meaning the world to me! And thank you once again to everyone else (who has read this far) who has expressed birthday wishes for me on my 29th year. Here’s looking forward to another great year and many more blessings!
God Bless!
Jonathan
