Deaths & Births

We didn't get any snow on the Cape. I look out the window and there's a bit of frost on the neighbor's bushes and my grass is wet but not even the slightest sign of snow. There are two squirrels hard at play. The rest of the State got plenty of snow this week. It has something to do with living so close to the ocean that leaves us with the milder side of the eye of many storms.

Besides the first day of a new year, it also happens to be my oldest child's thirteenth birthday. I remember so clearly the night he was born. He was big and healthy and absolutely beautiful.

When he was born it was the first day of the year 1995. My Nana had just passed away on the night of Halloween a few months before his birth. My Husband's Step Father and his Mom were about to visit from Dallas. My Husband's Step Dad passed away before my son even turned six months. I have only one memory of them together.

The baby was only a week old and my Husband's Step Dad was sitting on our couch in the living room with his glasses white hair and a beard holding the baby. I remember watching my son try to focus on what was in front of him. I remember feeling as though they had just made a connection.

When my son was three weeks old we went into Boston to share the new baby with my Dad. My Dad was thrilled to be a grandfather. They too made a special connection that day. My Dad passed away three years ago this February. It's hard to lose family and other people you love. A new year often brings this home more clearly to me than other times of the year.

I wish my Nana, my Husband's Step Dad and my Dad could still be a part of my children's life. They had so much to share with them.

It's a day for celebrations and new beginnings. He's going to invite a few friends over today to play basketball, watch highlights from a college basketball DVD and do what most thirteen year old boys do--eat lots of food.

We had grilled blueberry bagels with cream cheese and sausage for breakfast. Later today I will put a ham in the oven. I am also going to make another Chocolate Crown Cake because he didn't get to eat any of the last one and you just have to have some cake on your birthday.