january 7, 2017

“If you want to change the world, go home and love your family.” ~ Mother Teresa

All week my mother had been saying, “Your birthday present will be here Saturday.” I was expecting flowers or something delivered from UPS. I was wrong. Mom and dad were just getting ready to go home today when a Jeep pulled in. I walked outside and there stood Tony Adkins and my aunt Charlene. So, I thought they were my present come to visit. Wrong again. They were delivering my present. I said to Charlene, “Now, what woman wouldn’t want a generator for her 52nd birthday?” We had a good laugh! I love my new generator, don’t misunderstand me. It’s something I’ve wanted since I bought my house. Score another point for mom in the birthday present department!

Still, I kinda liked the idea that Tony and Charlene were my gift. You see, theirs is an unexpected love affair. I don’t really remember them dating when I was a child, but I’m told they did. Then, Tony’s best friend, my uncle Ralph Paul, was killed in Vietnam and everything stopped. A few years later, Tony married an incredible woman, Sandy, whom I adored. They were, together and individually, salt of the Earth people that anyone would be proud to know, and they were great friends to mom and dad. And Tony, of course, was like family to me already. He said recently, “I’ve loved you since Tennessee Hound Dog;” a song by the Osborne Brothers that I sang a lot as a kid. I was sad when Sandy got sick and sadder when she died last year. You’d be hard pressed to find a kinder, more positive spirit than her. A few months before Sandy’s passing, Charlene’s husband died suddenly. Through sympathy card exchanges Tony and Charlene’s old romance rekindled, and here they are; like a fairy tale. Charlene said recently, “I’ve never been this happy in my life.” You’re never too old to find love and be happy. So, Tony and Charlene were my birthday present. Mom and dad were my birthday present, too. Every day with them is like a present. I’m a lucky, lucky woman, and boy am I grateful for that generator. Every girl needs one. 

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