Thanks, Mom

Today is my birthday. I would say that I am officially old but I think that happened a few years ago.

This birthday is no special milestone, but so far it has been a good one. I got some great gifts (my wife and Dad are rock stars!) and am getting dinner at the place of my choosing...I am thinking of mixing it up and getting something besides sushi. At the moment, I am thinking Indian, but my selection has changed several times today.

And then I get to cap it off with my favorite: red velvet cake!

Yep, I am THAT Southern.

But birthdays are also bitter sweet for me.

My mom passed away 15 years ago this July. She always called me on my birthday...and always at the exact minute of my birth.

Which is why I know without looking at my birth certificate that I was born at 1:26 AM.

Yes, A.M.

It was the only middle of the night phone call that I got that didn't make me leap out of bed, heart pounding. Because I always knew it was coming. In fact, before I moved away from home, she always woke me up at that hour.

She wanted to tell me how happy she was I was born.

What makes birthdays a bit sad for me now is that that call was the last time I spoke to my mother. Twelve days later, as she was planning a vacation, an aneurysm in her brain ruptured. Four hours later she was in a coma. Seventeen days later, she was gone.

So birthdays make me thankful for my mom's life and make me miss her terribly. I even miss that call.

Thanks for being my mom, Mom. Thanks for giving birth to me.