Birthdays

My husband had a birthday yesterday. I love other people's birthdays! NOT MINE! That is how I got to thinking about this story. It makes me laugh so hard because Daddy always tried to make things special for me. He did, just not always on the right day.

Being an only child, one would think that her parents would always remember her birthday CORRECTLY. Well that isn't always the case. Daddy was able to prove my theory wrong 3 years in a row! My birthday is December 29th. The first year he got it wrong Daddy came in from a LONG, COLD day of work with a cake and a card. That was amazing. I loved it! I didn't open the card or touch the cake. After a while Daddy began to want a piece of the cake. I didn't get his facial expression at first and finally he just asked me when I would be cutting the cake and opening the card. When I said "tomorrow, on my birthday." I thought he was going to cry. He laughed (as always) and said he thought my birthday was Dec 28th. We had a good time with that one as we ate cake a day prior to my birthday.
The next year I was sure he would get it right. Well, he did adjust his gift giving a day. He just adjusted it in the wrong direction. On December 27th I got a gift, card and cake. NO LIE! I thought it was a joke at first, but then the look came over Daddy's face as the year before. He just started laughing. He knew that he had been a day off the prior year, so he made a change on the calendar - the opposite way. AHH, now we were celebrating my birthday on December 27th.
Surely the third time would be the charm. WRONG! This is not an story! Daddy made a big deal the next December 28th about my birthday. That time I wasn't all that amused because the joke was growing old. The day was again lost on my father. He thought he got it right on the 28th! I just fell over laughing at him because he meant no harm and honestly thought he was on time this year. The one thing we decided was that he was the first to wish me a birthday every year.
Only my Daddy could do something so innocently! He really thought he was right every year. What touches my heart is that he remembered CLOSE ENOUGH each year. The cards he gave always said the perfect thing. He always gave the perfect gift and always told me that I was the best thing that ever happened to him! No matter what day you hear that, it is perfect.
This year will be 5 birthdays without him. I still open the old cards he gave me on my birthday. I love to see his handwriting. Heck I still have the 2005 calendar he gave me in 2004 about loving a daughter. Had I known that would have been my last year with him, I would have never left his side!