mi cumpleaños

I wasn’t looking forward to being away from family and friends on my birthday, but my Puerto Rican family helped to make up for that.

This morning, after a happy birthday phone call from my brother, I was greeted by Happy Birthday decals on the windows of my car (actually Betsy’s car) as I was headed to church.  That small surprise meant a lot to me, and I began my day with a smile.

I tried not to tell anyone at church that it was my birthday because they make you come up on stage and they sing to you.  (Then you have to awkwardly stand there, not knowing if you should sing to yourself or just clap your hands and smile.)  But Jen made sure that they knew it was my birthday.  I guess I’m glad she did!  I got many birthday greetings and blessings.  I even received a few unexpected gifts from some of the kids in my sign language class. 

When it was time for the people with birthdays and anniversaries to stand on stage, I was the only one to go forward—great!  To my surprise, the worship leader immediately asked Hector to pray for me, and before I knew it I was shaking hands with the pastor and returning to my pew—no song!  As soon as I sat down though, the worship leader said, “We forgot to sing!”  So they did in fact sing to me, but I didn’t have to stand awkwardly on stage.  God is good!

Then a Father's Day Skype with my dad, presents—including shoes and a birthday-party-in-a-box, and lunch with friends at a Mexican (well, Puerto Rican-Mexican) restaurant.  This was followed by a beach walk and a chocolate-coffee ice cream cone at my favorite little shop in town.  We met a few friends there and chatted. 

Then home—birthday phone calls, a movie, and a fire in the chimenea.  When we got the fire to shoot out the top, it looked like a giant birthday candle.  

Thank you to everyone who made my first Puerto Rican birthday so special!