Wishes, Dreams, Future and Past...

Ah, my birthday... how I love it so. Reconnecting with friends, spending time with loved ones, and feeling the love... so much love.

I woke up to this beautiful photo above, with the text attached:
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Hope your day has had a great start!

Here is a photo that I took in Barcelona, especially with you in mind. I saw the sculpture and thought of you. And I thought I could send it to you when you were with child. So here it is, birthday and mommy-dom, all in one this year.

So, they stand at the entrance to Palau Reial in Pedrables. No, you are not a queen. And the baby is a boy, I think. That cannot be helped. We didn't know then what we know now. But I like how they are having a long, very positive look out, at the world that lays ahead of them. This reminds me of you. In their case, it is a lush and green and gorgeous garden of serenity and calm. With a note of modernity, if you look for it. And the whole city sits just beyond.

So I wish you, for you birthday, a lush and green and calm world, that has the comforts of modernity and always a reminder to what has passed. Because what we have seen helps to make us who we are. And of all the people I know, you TOTALLY get that.

Have a great day! I miss you lots!
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She captures so completely what this birthday feels like: the comforts of the future and the remembrance of the past. I am so hopeful and excited for our baby girl to be born, but I have a remarkably heavy heart. I knew that I would miss my grandmother - miss her lovely cards and the annual birthday check. But with the passing of my sister-in-law's mother just two days ago, a woman who was a fantastic grandmother to their 3 young children, I am both humbled by my good fortune of having my grandmother for so long, and the knowledge that our little one will -God Willing- have my parents for many years to come. So I will go forward into this year with hope, with the knowledge that our loved ones are so precious.

But I'm not here to bring this celebration down, I am here to express my gratitude to all of my friends for all the love. I love the love...