happy birthday, Charles.....

Hubby's birthday was actually yesterday, but that it was so close to Easter, we celebrated on Sunday combining the events and making him share with the Easter Bunny. He received lots of nice presents, and the red velvet cake you see above. (We go through this all over again in May on Chris' birthday, which falls on Mother Day.)

After dinner last night, we sat on the porch and talked a little bit about the whole birthday thing. He said that he did contemplate his age and started to ask the why and how of his life.... especially now that he's half way into his fifties. Isn't that what we all ask ourselves when we hit certain milestones? It's not an unusual request, and it's something we all do, whether we want to or not. It becomes another one of those"life happens..." moments where we take stock in our surroundings and hope that the path we chose put us close enough to the goals we made.

He is born and bred "southern", and has lived almost all of his life in Georgia. This didn't stop him from being a well traveled person, as his passion has always been reading and exploring. There isn't a free moment in this mans time that isn't spent with a book, magazine, or map in his hand. He is very much a history buff, and has passed that particular gene down to our son... luckily. If I don't understand a world event, he can fill me in on it as if he were the one making policy; where I can objectively and effectively chew on it for awhile. We never go anywhere without checking out the history behind the situation, and I can't think of how many Presidential homes we have visited up and down the east coast on a trip to New England, but know it was many. Not to mention all the museums, parks, and places of interest in the greater Georgia/ Florida area.

He comes from a family of two youngers sisters, and two younger brothers, who are some of the nicest people you'd ever want to meet. Each has their own personality, but it is so alike when it comes to ribbing each other. It is truly a masterpiece to watch when they all get together, as the wit flies, and the laughter is long and loud. There are no jealousies, no painful interventions, and no squabbles. Each have their own role, and each is grateful that life has been very good to them. No one is rich in the monetary sense, but they are rich in ways many people dream of.

He has trained as an apprentice carpenter, sous chef, journalistic student, and gardener; making him very well-rounded in lifes curveball occurrences. All these areas suit him well, and I am fortunate for his abilities and strong work ethic. We did hit many, many curves along the way, but the road has been smooth for a long time because we found a way to work through the tribulations that come with marriage.

The greatest joy of his life would be our son. There is not one thing he wouldn't do for Chris, and that moment started on the day Chris was born. He showed infinite patience during the colic "years" (and yes, it seemed like years... but was more like months), and never said no to Chris whenever a toy was "needed". I, on the other hand, was the sea hag who said no to everything; but money was tight, and the yankee frugal gene never quite got lost in my system. There were many times when I would become frustrated over being the disciplinarian, but equal balance of both sides won out with Chris, and he has turned out to be a wonderful person in his own right. By all intents and purposes, he should have turned out to be a spoiled brat.... but he didn't.

Both Charles and I are agnostic. He was raised Methodist, and I Catholic, but neither of us believed that strongly in our raised religions. This should spell disaster when it comes to raising a child, but it didn't. Chris is Christian (self professed) and through a discussion with him a few years back, I found him following his own golden rules of good and bad. We never brought him to any church (which didn't go over all that well with his Grandmother at first) but found it wasn't necessary, as he possessed a strong moral center. I had told him that we didn't think he should be raised the way we were: fearful of an entity. When he was old enough, he could decide for himself.... a decision both his father and I agreed on. We were fortunate that his moral core was intact, and never wavered. He would even take it upon himself to read the Bible, and even asked for the Charlton Heston tapes about religion for a Christmas present one year. Charles and I took a great gamble, but the rewards have been more than we could have imagined.

So Happy Birthday, Hubby! ...... and many, many more to celebrate as we travel down the road to old age together. Of course I still have a few more years to go before I catch up, but that's another story for another day.