Birthdays!

Birthdays have always been special to me. I remember as a kid I was always excited and really expected the day to be special. I could hardly wait for the presents and the cake and everything. It was also a big deal in my family. We knew we would have a cake and presents. And, when my sister and I were young we knew we'd even have a present as a part of the other sister's birthday celebration. That was my parents way of making sure we didn't feel left out. I carried that tradition into my family when our kids were very young. After a few years though we stopped doing that. To this day birthdays are special to me. I want presents on the "day of" my birthday and I really want something to be a surprise. In this way I'm still a kid at heart and probably always will be.

However, this "kid" will be the mother of a 40 year old daughter as of tomorrow. Lisa Kay (Condra) Roberts was born 40 years ago on August 10, 1969. Hard to believe, for us and for her, that the little girl we gave birth to in Marengo, Iowa, is now the wife of Mike, the mother of Kaitlin and Brayden, and a teacher. As a little girl she was happy, fun, cute and loving. Hmmm, she still is all of those things, but she is also intelligent, kind, hardworking, trustworthy and courageous. As a child she brought us joy and laughter. As an adult she she brings us pride and satisfaction. So, now in addition to getting to celebrate my own birthday with the heart of a kid; I also get to celebrate my kid's birthday with all of my heart as I see an adult who is someone to be proud of.