Ursa Major

[cmom]

I'm coming to the party, Ursa! My dad's birthday was yesterday and mine's tomorrow so we'll help you celebrate! I'm not sure my two sons will remember my birthday is tomorrow, either. They're 21 and 20 and neither one of them has mentioned it yet, so we'll see.

[Ursa Major]

Thanks, girls, you always seem to know how to make me feel better. And happy birthday to you, Robin!

[AndreaB]

We're here for you Ursa!

I always called my stepsons to remind them of there mothers birthday. Now I don't. They are between 16-25 so I figure they should be old enough to remember now.

[Ursa Major]

Well, the girls that forgot (or didn't care, as is the case for the youngest) are 27 and 15. The oldest is the mother of five little kids seven and under, and was probably too busy.

But my husband barbecued (the second-youngest and her fiance were the only ones who could make it, the youngest was on a school trip). He bought Hamburger patties that had wheat crumbs, and regular wheat buns, and normal Danishes for dessert. I got a chicken breast and salad (which I had to cook and make myself, he sliced the tomatoes and onions for everybody else, which I can't eat). I ate my sherbet for dessert. It was supposed to be my birthday dinner, but I was unable to eat any of the food!

The kids were saying that it shouldn't be a big deal, birthdays aren't about food. Oh well. I guess I should have expected it. I try really hard to never get excited about my birthday and Mother's Day (which was just as much of a letdown), because nobody cares to make those special for me anyway. I always hope though that 'this year it will be different'. But it never is.

My husband did pay for a necklace to be restored, that my aunt gave me a few years ago. My father gave it to her when he was a soldier in the war, and she was a teenager. It is made out of amber and ivory beads. She wore it a few years, and then the string broke. She picked up as many beads as she could find and put them into a little bag. It stayed in it for more than fifty years.

She said that as my dad's oldest daughter, I should have it (he died ten years ago, and she gave it to me three years ago when I was in Germany). The jeweller did a great job, and because it was too short (she must not have found all the beads), they used a silver bracelet to make up the difference. It is beautiful.

I also ordered myself a jewelry box on e-bay, and he paid for that. Plus, he will pay part of a new frame for my computer glasses, because the old frame is too heavy for my sensitive skin, I get painful sores on my nose from anything heavier than the ultralight titanium rimless glasses.

So, I got gifts, even though it was all arranged and bought by me, and then he paid for it.