Happy Birthday! Happy Anniversary!

Dear Mom,

You gave birth to me 53 years ago—on Friday, the 13th. You had mentioned more than once that you had appendicitis while in labor and we both came close to not making it. You were 40.

My husband, Norm’s mother gave birth to him 63 years ago—on Saturday, the 13th. No mishaps with her labor. She was 19.

Eight years ago, when Norm and I finally tied the knot after having been together nearly the same amount of time, we decided to celebrate that occasion on our birthdays. As we grow old together, there won’t be any confusion ☺ remembering the date.

I tease Norm that when we hit our 10th anniversary that it will be a record for me—I’ll have been married to him longer than all three of my previous marriages combined! He’s already broken the record strictly for the longest, period.

Norm likes teasing me too—and modified this comic strip depicting me with my girlfriend.

There was a time when I didn’t think we’d make it. I wondered what was wrong with me and that maybe I wasn’t the marrying type. Turns out I didn’t have the right one—someone who wanted it to work too! Every day I give thanks for I am blessed to have the best little stinker. And the decorative pillow that Norm gave me one year sums it up for me as well… “If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day, so I never have to live without you.” Winnie-the-Pooh

Happy Birthday and Happy Anniversary Norm!