Today is my 59th birthday.  As I reflect back…it seems that only yesterday I was 58!  I began the morning by stopping by to pick up my cake from our local bakery, that Mary Jane had ordered for me.  The young woman that waited on me remarked…”are you picking up your own birthday cake?”  I responded yes…and felt good about it as Mary Jane often picks up her birthday cake also.  The cake person then asked her colleague why my cake was so expensive…and received a logical explanation for the cost…she subsequently charged me three dollars less…with a sad smile.  Finally she asked me if I needed a cake server with my cake…although I thought that she asked me if I was going to be the cake server.  Lastly she wished me a happy birthday.

Two lovely Birthday Presents have been given me this October.  One was enjoying time with my brother Brock and his sweet wife Marcy earlier this month.  The other was our enjoying birthday dinner in St. Louis..at my favorite restaurant, Cunetto House of Pasta, with my delightful sister  Billie,…again who I had never met.

My sons Aaron and Jonathon continue to be the light of my life!  They and their wonderful mother Mary Jane have made every day for me an adventure and a joy!

One truth I have discovered is that my and Brock and Billie’s father is a mystery to all of us.  It is much like the fable of the blind man touching an elephant and reporting much varied descriptions of the animal that they felt based on where they placed their hands.

Springfield, Ohio “69”

This is a photo of our Dad with our sister Tammy.

This was Dad’s birthday. He was 57. Taken in Tennessee

“My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle…” according to the Old Testament author Job.  KJV

I received birthday wishes from several of my high school and grade school classmates…and instantly I could see their faces as I remembered them from our childhood days.  They’re taking time to wish me happy birthday warmed my heart!

I think of my old friend Steve…who in years gone by I had many adventures with.

I think the complexity and hidden beauty of this thing we call life is so rich and full…that often we fail to absorb it.  It happens so fast that we see it in the rear view mirror as we speed down life’s highway.

“So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.”  Psalm 90:12   KJV