To all those who made my mom’s birthday special, thank you so much! She received 41 cards in total. I had hoped for 25 so 41 is a bonus — definitely a well-deserved haul!

We started out taking Bridget for a walk at Lincoln Trail State Park. We were the only ones there!

After our hiking about, we dressed up and had a late afternoon buffet at Richards Farm (a restaurant in Casey , Illinois), which serves a gigantic Thanksgiving Day feast for the masses. We’d never been before and were told, “If you go home hungry, it’s your own fault.” (True, true, true!)

Our neighbor girl came by to give my mom a painting which her grandmother made.

Special cupcakes arrived from my friend, April, who lives in Hawaii. April spent Christmas Day with us in Illinois, her first ever cold December 25th, in 1989. She and I lived in a women’s dormitory house in Washington, DC, at that time. She was working for her Hawaiian senator; I was completing my USA placement as a Mission Intern after spending over a year in Japan. I invited her to come to Illinois for her Christmas Day and she took me up on the offer. We’ve stayed in touch ever since.

My mom’s brother, Rolf, and his wife, Becky, had flowers and a b-day balloon delivered. What an appropriate gift, not to mention the lovely display it presented in the living room.

For myself, I picked up a few fun items. She’s wearing the Christmas T-shirt I gave her in the picture with her flowers. Also included in her gifts was a pottery angel by our local artisan. She had seen it a few weeks ago and thought it was quirky, something right up her alley. Surprise! it’s now on the wall for her to enjoy.

Her lottery ticket numbers, sad to say, didn’t win her the millions she’d hoped for but the well-wishes of so many surely must have made up for it. That old saying, “Money can’t buy you happiness,” I still think holds true. As for my mom, she’d definitely agree.

Enjoy the visuals below. They make for a nice memory for us both.

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