Turned 40 and Loving it!!
40!
I want to share a story about the most generous and kind gift anyone has ever given me. I recently had a monumental birthday, I turned 40! I will openly admit that it was tough to acknowledge that I was going to be turning forty, but I have embraced it after having had one of the best birthday celebrations ever. I can say with confidence that I am forty and love it!! I am told that life it just about to begin and I am excited and anxious to start living life with a new perspective.
My birthday celebration started with a fabulous surprise party with my closest friends and family filling the room, in addition to amazing wine and food. One could not ask of anything better than that, all my true loves in life. The party completely caught me off guard as it was one month before my real birthday; I truly got to celebrate for a month, because I continued the celebration with a two-week visit to Italy. It was in Italy that I received the most generous, heartfelt, and genuine gift a person could be given.
I went to Italy with Phil (my significant other), his youngest daughter Kara, and her boyfriend, Matt. Matt and Kara were the people who gave me the wonderful birthday gift. It all started in Rome, on our first morning in Italy; this is when I received the first of many birthday cards to come. The card I received was somewhat perplexing as it was vintage, in a strange envelope and signed "The People in Rome". Now you must also know that the day I received it, it was not my birthday, but Kara's 25th birthday so my first thought was that we were somehow mix-up.
When we arrived in the lobby to meet Matt and Kara I told the story of the possible mix up with the birthday card and Matt and Kara started to chuckle as they had "gotten me". As they laughed, I figured out that they had slipped the card under the door the evening before signing it "The People of Rome". Little did I know this was just the beginning of many birthday cards to come. From that point on, each morning I woke to another card that was slipped under the door wishing me a Happy Birthday and with a message that summarized the events of the day before.
Now, this may not seem so astonishing or as being one the most generous, heartfelt, and genuine gifts, because the part you do not know, is that the last day of our 14 day trip I received the last and final birthday wish. This last card provided the explanation and meaning of the interesting nature of these vintage cards.
The final birthday card from Matt and Kara listed their top ten favorite moments of our 2010 Italy trip and here is what number ten said, "And 10, finally getting the perfect chance to use a few of the cards that I've saved from my dad's store, Helthco. I had been working there since I was 10 and had found the cards hidden away in a pile when I was 16, I loved them all and could not image that at one point they had been called unsellable! I boxed them up, brought them home, and waited another 16 years to give them to someone. I am glad it was you!"
Turning forty has not been all that bad, especially when you know that there are generous people in the world that take the time make you feel special and loved. For me it is the small meaningful things that people do that makes life just that much more enjoyable!
I want to share a story about the most generous and kind gift anyone has ever given me. I recently had a monumental birthday, I turned 40! I will openly admit that it was tough to acknowledge that I was going to be turning forty, but I have embraced it after having had one of the best birthday celebrations ever. I can say with confidence that I am forty and love it!! I am told that life it just about to begin and I am excited and anxious to start living life with a new perspective.
My birthday celebration started with a fabulous surprise party with my closest friends and family filling the room, in addition to amazing wine and food. One could not ask of anything better than that, all my true loves in life. The party completely caught me off guard as it was one month before my real birthday; I truly got to celebrate for a month, because I continued the celebration with a two-week visit to Italy. It was in Italy that I received the most generous, heartfelt, and genuine gift a person could be given.
I went to Italy with Phil (my significant other), his youngest daughter Kara, and her boyfriend, Matt. Matt and Kara were the people who gave me the wonderful birthday gift. It all started in Rome, on our first morning in Italy; this is when I received the first of many birthday cards to come. The card I received was somewhat perplexing as it was vintage, in a strange envelope and signed "The People in Rome". Now you must also know that the day I received it, it was not my birthday, but Kara's 25th birthday so my first thought was that we were somehow mix-up.
When we arrived in the lobby to meet Matt and Kara I told the story of the possible mix up with the birthday card and Matt and Kara started to chuckle as they had "gotten me". As they laughed, I figured out that they had slipped the card under the door the evening before signing it "The People of Rome". Little did I know this was just the beginning of many birthday cards to come. From that point on, each morning I woke to another card that was slipped under the door wishing me a Happy Birthday and with a message that summarized the events of the day before.
Now, this may not seem so astonishing or as being one the most generous, heartfelt, and genuine gifts, because the part you do not know, is that the last day of our 14 day trip I received the last and final birthday wish. This last card provided the explanation and meaning of the interesting nature of these vintage cards.
The final birthday card from Matt and Kara listed their top ten favorite moments of our 2010 Italy trip and here is what number ten said, "And 10, finally getting the perfect chance to use a few of the cards that I've saved from my dad's store, Helthco. I had been working there since I was 10 and had found the cards hidden away in a pile when I was 16, I loved them all and could not image that at one point they had been called unsellable! I boxed them up, brought them home, and waited another 16 years to give them to someone. I am glad it was you!"
Turning forty has not been all that bad, especially when you know that there are generous people in the world that take the time make you feel special and loved. For me it is the small meaningful things that people do that makes life just that much more enjoyable!
