Goddaughters and Surprises

Candles spell out the traditional English birthday greeting (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I remember this day very clearly. Maybe not the exact day of the week, because that was 19 years ago, but still. See, one of my very dear friends and I decided to scheme and surprise our “twin” husbands who are more alike than different, with a 30th birthday party. She was the one coordinating with the restaurant and her list of guests. Imagine my surprise when her husband called me at work to let us know that his wife had given birth — weeks ahead of schedule. Oh my, my dumbfounded tone on the other end of the phone was not completely due to overwhelming joy for them.  I was now left with putting the final touches and the final numbers on the party. I had no contact information for the place and no contact person — after all my very abled friend was handling all of that. She, was now recovering from a Caesarean section and quite groggy. Talk about some stress.

Needless to say, everything worked out well but it turns out besides my friends who were surprised at the early arrival of their daughter, the only one surprised by the party was my husband. His good friend was sport enough to get in on the surprise when my friend, in the throws of labor, confessed our plans to him, particularly since she would not be at the party.

While the party is now but a distant memory and those guys approach their 50th birthdays, the best part of that day by far was the birth of our goddaughter, Andrea. She is a beautiful, intelligent, thoughtful and caring woman who turns 19 today. I am both privileged and honored to be a part of her life and have her as a part of mine. I am to this day still honored that her parents entrusted us to be such an important part of her life. It has been a pleasure to watch her grow from a cute little child into the amazing woman she is today.

She was my “first” goddaughter and will alway have a special place in my heart.

Happy Birthday Andrea! Love you…..