Simply Celebrating Another Birthday

Jake turned 14 on Friday. Kind of a bittersweet day for me.

The bitter part: In earlier years, I felt the loss of his twin, as we celebrated just one boy's birthday. In recent years, I think of how Jake almost didn't make it to another birthday. There is also the diminished quality of life that comes with each year, which brings less ways of making the day special. This year, it was the cake. We had ice cream cake for the rest of us, but Jake doesn't really eat by mouth anymore, so he only had a couple of bites and then was done. He didn't leave the house that day...in fact, he only had a couple of hours in his wheelchair and he spent the rest of the day on his cot in the family room.

The sweet parts: His favorite thing about his birthday is when people call and sing to him. He laughs, then when they finish, he says, "muh" for more. As they oblige and crescendo into another stanza of the birthday song, Jake smiles and if he had it his way, this interchange would last all day. Other favorites: the grandparents came, Daddy played guitar, and he got some more of those musical cards to add to the collection that he has in a basket in his room.

When I think about it, I really shouldn't get hung up on the bitter parts. It's Jake's day and he doesn't seem to dwell on things lost. He desires love and music. That's it...just sweet and simple.