Happy Birthday, Baby. Oh, I Love You So ...

Thirty one candles, makes my heart so bright. You're only thirty one, but girl it feels so right!

Dearest Melissa,

With just one leg left to stand on (now you can be on Dancing with the Stars), too many places to call home, and only one suitcase (with wheels) to hold all your worldly belongings, you continue on your journey to live on, love on and laugh on.

All I can say is that I love that you picked me as your buddy to share this wild ride with.

On this note, I am reminded a scene from the movie "Say Anything," in which two love-struck teens are about to take a tremendous leap of faith.

"Nobody really thinks it will work, do they?" she asks.

"No," he replies. "You just described every great success story."

This is our story, too. And every birthday is both a milestone and tribute to the two people who are dedicated to making it the greatest success story ever told.

Happy birthday, baby. Oh, I love you so.

Teacakes ... one of life's little treasures.

My relationship with my Granny is awesome! And, I love her so much that it would take forever to describe how wonderful she is and why I love her so. And, maybe someday I'll dedicate a blog to do just that. But, the purpose of this blog is to share a really fun day that I had last week.

I rarely take off in the middle of the day to do something fun. However, I've really been needing some "Granny" time and last week my cousin's daughter, Lexi, was out of school for fall break. Granny and I had the idea that we should get together and make teacakes.

Teacakes are sort of a tradition for us. I don't really know why or how it got started (I should ask). All I know is that it is one of those indelible memories - just thinking about it conjures up images of flour floating through the air, the feel of gooey dough on your fingers, the smell in the kitchen, Granny's hands guiding mine as I cut all those dozens of teacakes with a teeny coke glass for a cookie cutter and the sound of her voice saying "now get real close to the edge" or "pat some of that flour off ... that's too much." And, I can't think of teacakes without my cousin Lori or my little brother Christopher, being in all of the memories.

Anyway, when Granny mentioned teacakes, I immediately called Lori and she arranged to take the day off ... who would miss this! I looked forward to the event all week. On Thursday at lunchtime, after working really hard during the a.m. to make up for taking the afternoon off, I drove to Camilla, Georgia where my Granny lives. The whole way I could hardly stand the excitement. When I arrived, Lori and Lexi were already in the kitchen getting started. And, this is what I saw ...

I was overwhelmed with a sense of happiness to know that something that was (and still is) so special to Lori and to me was being shared with Lexi. And, making teacakes with Granny is just one example. Everytime I see Granny and Lexi together, it's like looking back in time. I see myself wrapped in Granny's arms and showered by her attention and love.

Thursday was one of those days in life that I knew for sure that I was blessed and I will treasure it forever.

Our Man in the Moon

Heaven knows our man in the moon knows.

He knows that his eyes are the exact place in space and time where your eyes and my eyes connect no matter where in the world either of us might be.

He never closes his eyes, knowing full well how critical that connection is.

He sees to it that we are together no matter how far apart we might be, that even our whispers reach the other’s ears and that our hearts beat as one.

He caresses us in his warm glow and brings us the comforting promise that as long as he shines we will find our way back into each other’s arms.

To the moon that brought us together, was with us when I proposed (an Melissa accepted!) in New Orleans, showed up full and bright on our wedding night in Cinque Terra, Italy, as it did on our first anniversary on the north rim of the Grand Canyon, I express my gratitude and love.

You are our connector. Thanks, our man in the moon, for a stellar job well done.

And, to Melissa, whose hair is the color of moon glow, happy second anniversary. I love you and look forward to being at your side for many, many moons to come.