MY BIRTHDAY JULY 16 2000

My Birthday 2000

I’m a day late with my birthday essay, but you’ll see what’s kept me busy in a moment.  First lets set the stage.  For years I’ve tried to write a reflection on my birthday.  You’ll never find all 58 of them for several reasons.  First, I could not write until I was at least five or six years old.  Second, computers didn’t come into widespread use until about ten years ago.  I know that has nothing to do with writing, but still, one is more inclined to write when one can “save, spell check and edit with ease”.

Someday when a descendant is going through my things they will find some birthday essays.  Hope someone thinks they are fun.  Now to the birthday at hand.  This is the big one – the year 2000.  When I was young my father would remind me from time to time that I would be alive for the Millennium and “how wonderful that will be”.  Well, yes I am and it was and you’ll find that described in another piece I wrote and stashed.  However, when my father would tell me the “alive and wonderful” part I would always flinch and think, “yes, but I’ll be an ancient 58 years old”. 

From the lofty vantage point of 2000 and 58 I’m here to say, “It ain’t so bad”. 

My children are grown and married to folks who love them and care for them – no longer do I worry if they will come home late from a date.  (Now I just worry if their plane will make it across the Atlantic Ocean.)  My mind thinks I’m 39 years old.

Now, let me tell you about my 58^th birthday present.  Several months ago I idly turned on the TV and watched a sewing show in which a wonderful machine was demonstrated.  Not only would it sew, but also embroider as well.  I was smitten and rushed to my three closest sewing machine dealers for a demonstration coming home laden with enthusiasm and brochures.  SBW did his typical SBW thing which was to declare that considering the cost of the machine I could buy an awful lot of clothes etc. etc.

I pouted for a day or two then resolved to campaign some ore after we returned from our trip to Detroit scheduled for late June.  The moment I got back I dug out my brochures and decided it was time to start the battle from a new front, but first I had a few other life details to attend so the process was delayed until the third week in July.

Saturday July 15^th we awoke with the sound of lightening and thunder that resembled the show when Baghdad was bombed in the early 90’s.  Florida a state that had not seen rain in months and was parched beyond recognition was about to get its whole rainfall deficit wiped out in one day.  It rained longer and harder on July 15^th than many people could remember.

We spent the day doing such necessary tasks as cleaning computer files and catching up on unread back issues of magazines and being very grateful that we lived here all the time and were not visitors to the beach who had paid $150 for a waterside room that was about to be flooded. 

In the middle of the afternoon during a break in the rains I suggested to SBW that he dash out and rent “The Talented Mr. Ripley” for our evening entertainment.  As usual SBW said he would then refused to budge.  I said, “if you are going to go, then go NOW while its not raining”.  Still he sat.  I returned to my computer and soon the sky darkened and the wind started to blow.  I heard him pick up the car keys and I yelled, “NOT NOW – ITS TOO LATE”  to which he responded, “Its not raining” and left. 

True, it was not raining at exactly that moment, but before he could descend six floors and get to the car the heavens dumped buckets and sheets of water on South Pinellas County.  I started to pace and mumble things about “how dumb can one get” etc.  Right in the midst of the pacing and ranting there was a feeble little tap tap tap on the door.  Reluctantly I opened the door half expecting to find a neighbor there to announce that Steve had had an accident in the rain.  (Who else would be out in this kind of almost hurricane weather?)

Instead I found myself nose to nose with a woman who handed me an envelope and introduced herself as the “birthday bunny”.  It was the closest I’ll ever get to having the Publisher’s clearing House Prize Patrol on my doorstep.  Behind the birthday bunny was a man with a huge moving dolly who pushed right past and rolled into my foyer then quickly went back to retrieve two big beautifully wrapped boxes.  Mind you the wind was blowing, the rain was falling in giant amounts and here stood these apparitions with their gifts.  Both the gifts and the apparitions were dry and unruffled.  All I could say was, “Where’s Steve?” 

No one seemed to know and I couldn’t figure out how these people got in, and for a long time I thought they had the wrong place.  Gradually I realized they were delivering not only my sewing machine, but my sewing table as well.  I thanked and hugged them, closed the door and thought, “Where’s Steve”.

Forty five minutes passed as I worried that he had an accident and was on his way to the hospital.  Finally, he bustled in carrying the DVD for our movie.  He had been watching movies at Blockbuster waiting for the storm to pass and had entirely missed the wonderful surprise of his birthday gift delivery!

My new sewing machine is wonderful and soon everyone I know will have everything they own embroidered with lovely designs.  I spent the whole day of July 16^th learning to thread my new machine, and even think that in my lifetime I can master the whole process – sure glad I’m only 58 years old!

Once again SBW pulled a surprise on me!  (Remind me someday to tell the story of the Mother’s Day mirror he decided to hang at 2:00AM and woke the whole building with banging.)

Its been a lovely birthday week.  Page and Mark called from the plane as they left for Belgium, we followed their flight all night on the computer, within 24 hours of their departure we started getting lovely messages via e-mail, Steve and I had a wonderful dinner at Chateau France on July 14^th in honor of Bastille Day, we cleaned out all our computer files on a rainy Saturday, saw a great movie – Talented Mr. Ripley, and then to top it off I had a visit from the birthday bunny.  What fun!  I’m so glad I lived to be 58! 

Its now 8:00 AM on Monday the 17^th of July.  I just have time to spell check this and send it off to Page before my sewing show comes on TV at 8:30.