Happy Birthday!

When I was little, I would start watching the mailbox for deliveries around St. Patrick's Day. Each year for my birthday, my grandmother would send me a ten dollar check. I would get mail from Grandma B and mail from Mama and Papa Rietveld and birthday notes from my cousin or far-away friends.

Today is my cousin's birthday. She is two days older than I am. When we were little she enjoyed lording that age over me. We'd be out to lunch with our Moms sitting in a booth waiting for milkshakes and French fries. Legs swinging against the spring-sticky red vinyl, she'd delight in teasing me for being the younger one.  Now I get to be two days younger!

My Mom has had a difficult diagnosis this week. It has reminded me to stop and appreciate living. To celebrate and connect. To leave a bit of the worry and fear and remember the now and the moments. My son and I are going to do just that next week for spring break.

Mom, Aunt Suzanne, Krystal and me 

I loved sharing birthdays with Krystal when we were little.  Now I revel in all of my friends' March birthdays! Can you believe 26 of them are THIS WEEK! It's a banging week for birthdays in my feed.

It's quite the cast in March: friends I work with, friends I've known for decades, former students, former teacher colleagues, several teacher rock stars, a few adolescent literacy experts, my childhood neighbor and a pretty spectacular performance poet. Four teachers in our English department here at Singapore American School have birthdays this week!

Today is the last Friday before Spring Break. Yesterday I wished my friend, Michelle, a happy early birthday. She and I chatted about the quarter's end. She's often on holiday for her birthday as it usually falls during our spring break. As they say here in Singapore "same same." I'm usually out of school for my birthday too. I can't wait to get the celebration started! Happy birthday and happy spring break, teacher friends!