Double Birthday Week!

 These past few days have been a big week for birthdays in my family. On Saturday, my entire extended family got together to celebrate my great grandmother’s ninetieth birthday and my younger brother turned fifteen a few days later on Tuesday. I love other peoples’ birthdays, there’s something so wonderful about getting to honor a person just because they exist. All you have to do to have a birthday is be alive, and I think celebrating a person’s mere existence is important, especially when it’s someone you love. 

Watching my great grandma at family gatherings is always interesting, she’s never been much of a talker (or that’s what my mom has told me) and she spends most of the time sitting and listening to everyone else’s conversations. All the stories I’ve been told about her always paint her as a selfless person who gives as much as she can to her family. Now that she’s older, I think it’s been hard for her to not be able to do as much for everyone. It was a really special experience for there to be a day that was all about her. When she got up from her usual spot in the living room to go to dinner, she was feeling a little cheeky and did a curtsy for everyone watching. I always love the little moments of levity that shine through, she might not say a lot but you can tell she has a sense of humor.

I unfortunately didn’t get to be home for my little brother’s birthday, but I got to sing happy birthday to him over Facetime when he blew out his birthday candles. It definitely wasn’t the prettiest rendition of the song, the video and audio kept cutting out so I was still on the first “happy birthday to you” when they were all on the  “dear Eli” part of the song. It was strange not being there on his birthday for the first time. My brothers and I are super close and I hate to miss out on important moments in their lives. I did promise him a great birthday gift to make up for it, so if anyone has a suggestion that would be great!