We’ve been kicking balloons from room to room for a week. They’re leftover from when we filled her room the night she fell asleep as a five year old and woke up as a six year old, trading one year for another somewhere between prayers and dreams and the sunrise.
Her mother and I celebrated her with surprise after surprise
the entire day because six years ago she started doing the same for us. We had a
few of her friends, some since birth and the other her best forever, show up
randomly at places we already were. First, the indoor trampoline park where
they jumped from walls to floor to foam pits and air bags then later, the
bowling alley and arcade where the laughs rolled faster than the bowling balls.
We ate lunch at her favorite restaurant and cooled off with
ice cream from her favorite creamery before collapsing on our couch at the end
of the day. Over pizza with pepperonis displaying her age and candy she
declared her favorite from last Halloween, we watched a movie and looked back
at the last six years.
Then over the weekend, we watched her take a deep breath and
blow out her candles surrounded by friends and family. Entertained by obstacles
and gymnastic challenges, her and her friends tackled them all before she was
strapped in and swung from the ceiling. Later she told me it was the best
birthday ever and maybe because the words came out crisper and cleaner than
ever before, spoken from someone with another year of life experience, I
believed her.
When she was three, she couldn’t wait to be six. Now that she's six, she can’t wait to be twelve. Meanwhile, I’m just trying to soak it all
in and hang on for the ride. If the next six years fly by as quickly as the
last six did, I better tighten the straps. One thing is for sure, whiplash included,
she’s the best gift we’ve ever received.
My youngest is 12, almost 13. Wow, how those days fly by. If I asked for my age in pepperoni, they'd charge me double!
ReplyDeleteWow! What a birthday! Will you adopt me? I have a 6 and a 7 year old and I don't want them to get a second older. Beautifully written.
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