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The First Party

There are a select few number of people for whom I was the primary person in charge of putting together a celebration for them. My wife is one. My kids... their celebrations are a joint effort between my wife and I. My siblings... I am a minor, secondary player in the formation of the celebration. For a fair number of years, when my aunt lived with my mother, I was the primary person planning an putting into motion her celebrations. So very sadly, my aunt passed away in 2002. However, until recently, there was but one other person for whom I was the primary person in charge of putting together their celebrations, at least during the last dozen or so years... this person was my mother.

Earlier in this week, I put together a celebration for my wife's birthday. It was a very nice, pleasant affair. A good time was had by all.

However, putting together the party harkened back in my mind, memories of the birthday party I put together for my beloved mother. Her birthday was only three weeks before her passing. Much of the feelings of loss I feel, erupted to the surface, as I sat alone in the basement wrapping gifts for my wife, tears streamed down my cheeks as I put out a cake for her on the dining room table, and decorated the room. Fortunately, I did this at roughly 1am when she was asleep (putting together the decorations for a party and wrapping gifts is something I typically do very late at night to give me the opportunity to "transform" a room from typical to decorated so as to allow my birthday recipient a chance to awaken to a "surprise" of sorts. I say it was fortunate I decorated THIS time at 1am especially, for it gave me time to have my tears dry and I could tuck away my sorrow again, so as to not spoil my wife's beautiful day.

I so miss my beautiful and kind, and loving mother.

PipeTobacco