Birthday Celebrations…

The birthday celebrations began in earnest 2 DAYS before the actual birthday when Gianna wrote on the Calendar under Saturday’s date ‘eve of Gianna’s 8th birthday’.  When she woke up on Friday morning she wished me a ‘Happy eve of the eve of Gianna’s birthday’ and marched very happily off to school where she would be sharing birthday cupcakes with her classmates and teachers.  She was very specific about the order – plain cake with green icing, each was to have a flower on top purple ones for the girls and blue for the boys, thank goodness for Aunty Erin (Erin Fuller – the Little Bean Co. )

On Friday night we had a ‘pizza picnic party sleepover’ with heightened excitement and much giggling…both little girls ending up in my bed…

On Saturday while G hung out with friends I pounded the pavement trying to get all the last-minute things done so that her beach party on Sunday would be special..we ended up at Dickenson Bay beach later that evening with friends and then an impromptu pre birthday dinner at Coconut Grove as one of our friends would be returning to Jamaica the following morning.

Finally after much celebration and excitement the morning of the actual birthday dawned and I woke up early and just watched her sleeping for a while (the way parents do) and marveled at how big she has grown and how blessed I am to have her in my life.  The day was lovely and G was so excited.  She had a lovely time, her Justin Bieber cake was amazing and our friends were there to celebrate with us..it was a perfect day, blue sky, brilliant sunshine but cool and the sea was just absolutely gorgeous…Everyone had a wonderful time and I really felt grateful for the new and wonderful friends that we have made in the three and a quarter years that we have called Antigua home.

I view and have always viewed this day as a celebration for me as well..a celebration of the day that I met this amazing little (well not so little anymore) person with the huge personality and sense of humor to match.  I was never one of those women who longed for marriage or children..I always assumed that it would happen in due course and I didn’t have much (if any) experience with children at all (Gianna’s was the first diaper I ever changed).   She was not planned and in fact came at a time when I was in the full throes of my career and relationship…so many emotions (that coupled with the hormones made for an interesting time 🙂 ). I couldn’t keep a track of them all so I did what I always do ..I wrote it all down in my journal…

8 years later I keep to my ritual of reading those entries on March 4th, 2004 and the days just before and just after…to remind myself of the details, the love and the miracle that is Gianna.  Had it not been for God’s grace on that Thursday night at 9:29 due to unforeseen circumstances, things could have turned out very differently indeed…we both had the fight of our lives that night and I remember asking the nurse a couple of days later if giving birth was always that difficult (I had no clue) and I remember her looking at me and saying ‘No mother you had it hard and that baby of yours is a fighter’..I have always thought that experience (and other challenges that we would face together) bonded us in a very special way and for that reason I give thanks for those challenges  and where they have brought us and I give thanks that she is happy and healthy and whole…

I love you Gianna, Happy Birthday…