Sunday, January 2, 2011

Happy birthday to me

Stephanie is one of many UMF faculty and staff who is a member of St. Joseph's Catholic Church with me. Today I looked out in the congregation and she was there with Margaret. Margaret is NOT a member of St. Joe's and in fact, is a deacon at her church. After mass, I scurried out to the congregation to say Howdy and see what the special occasion was. Margaret and Stephanie had had breakfast with Margaret's daughter who was in town and therefore Margaret had missed her church's morning service, so Stephanie brought her to ours. It was fabulous to have such a great guest at our church!

We chatted about everything and nothing the way that good friends do and Margaret said, "Let's have dinner tonight at my house." And we all agreed to do so. Patti, a fellow choir member, came up to join the conversation as she and Margaret are good friends and she, too, wanted to know what was the special occasion that brought Margaret to our church. In that conversation, Pattie revealed to Margaret and Stephanie that today was my birthday. Suddenly our planned dinner was now a birthday dinner. 

When I arrived at Margaret's, she had made a cake! That was not part of the original menu. I was honored. And the cake was delicious. And the meal shared with dear friends was indeed a special way to celebrate.

Homestead birthday

Andrea (music minister at St. Joe's who organizes our choir and plays keyboard and who teaches ESL and gifted students for the local school district) and Patti (guitarist and lead cantor for our choir who teaches science at the local high school) took me out for brunch at The Homestead for my birthday. :-)

Andrea and I go to The Homestead nearly every Sunday for brunch after church, but today was a special treat in honor of my special day. Paul joined us, which was a delightful treat. He's a lawyer in town but he must be the unofficial town historian. He knows everyone and everything in town. Ask him any question and get ready for a spellbinding story for an answer. Needless to say, the conversation at my birthday brunch was as special and as fun as the friends who created the event for me.