One of the coolest gifts I ever got

So, today is my birthday.  My 35th birthday to be exact and I realize that most people have already bought their fireworks and hot dogs to celebrate this national holiday.  What?!?!  Your calender doesn't list today as a national holiday?  Well, no matter.  Just go ahead and pencil it in.  With the economy and health care crisis, those bureaucrats in DC must have forgot to tell the calender publishers to add it! 

35 years!  35 years of cake and presents and balloons and all that good stuff.  Which got me thinking about the most memorable stuff.  Loved my unicorn cake when I was 7 AND 8.  Loved that cake.  I had a cool 16 birthday party at a restaurant and yes, I had a drink or two when I turned 21.  But, I think one of the best things I ever got was the day I was born.  Now, I could be all mushy and say that it was the life my parents gave me.  I would have to admit that that is PRETTY cool and I am sure that that is really is more of a gift for the rest of the world .....you think not?!?  Oh well....no cake for you!

In all seriousness though, I think the best gift I have ever gotten is my name. My parents were big into naming their children after people that were important to them in their lives. I was suppose to be named Rebecca Alexandra.  I was going to still be called Alexandra, but in the South (my father was born and raised in Mississippi) it is a tradition to call your children by their middle name, or so I am told. However, my father discovered right before he signed the paper officially naming me that my initials would have been RAT and renamed my Alexandra Rebecca.  Maybe that is something I should also consider a great gift as well......

As I mentioned before, my parents liked to name their kids after important people in their lives.  My original first name Rebecca was after my father's grandmother and has become an important name in our family with other women in the family being named Rebecca as well.  My first name was after my grandmother's best friend (maternal side), my grandfather Alec (paternal side) and my mother's best friend.

I didn't get to know all these people, but having this connection with them is a great gift.  However, one of these people, I have gotten to know and has been an important part of my life. My mother's best friend.  She has been at many of the important moments in my life.  She came when my brother was born to help my mom.  She attend my college graduation.  She was a reader at my wedding.  She was there at my father's funeral.  She makes me laugh, a lot.  She is always a strong shoulder to lean on and has an open mind and heart.  She is a strong woman with strong morals and values that I look up too and admire greatly.  And I love her with all my heart.

So, on this day, my birthday, I would like to give a gift.  A gift of thanks to this lady for all that she has meant to me, my life, and for sharing her name with me.  And a thanks to my parents for giving me a name with history that I love.

Now for some of that cake!