Happy Birthday to You!

(ROCKWALL, TX — March 19, 2018) It’s birthday month. Dear friends, one in heaven, were born this month. Amazingly my children will be 44 years old this month. Can’t be! They are aging well as is their Grandmother.

I noticed a birthday party at Broadmoor today, Sunday. A great celebration of a life well-lived. Obviously, the children and grandchildren were organizing the event. Every detail was cared for, all the way down to the coffee pot. The GREATS were having the most fun either playing putt-putt, running around outside or being passed around from lap to lap.

The resident whose birthday being celebrated has often asked me why the Lord continues to keep her on Planet Earth. She would prefer to be reunited with her precious husband who was also a resident before his death. My answer to her is always the same. “I’m not sure of the why. But I am sure of the what. God has written a book about you, and in that book are written all the days that He has planned for you. He wrote it before the world began. Because you’ve outlived your husband we would automatically think your book has more chapters that his. But look, we’re talking about him right now, so his book continues too.” I’ll be able to remind her this week of God’s amazing plan. I watched the family interact and those precious GREATS being themselves. Each has several pages in the books that have been written about the

GREAT Grandparents.

I did not know my GREAT Grandparents, but I had my Grandparents, all four of them until I was 26 years old. All four of them were dear to me for different reasons. On one side my Grandparents were pioneers, coming to McCollough County in a wagon from Arkansas. They built the barn before they built the house. There are actually stories told that Comanche Indians still lived in the area. Daddy always teased, “I was born in the barn!”

I think he probably was.

His Mother treasured me. I was the first girl after three sons and a grandson. She bathed me in a big wash tub, filled with water heated on a wood-burning stove. She served me hot tea with fresh cream and lots of sugar. I gathered eggs each morning scrambled up with churned butter. It was pale yellow, pure from the wooden churn that wore blisters on these untrained hands. Pure happiness.

The other Grandmother got butter from a government program. It really was oleomargarine. It was bright yellow. She kept it in the red bread box. She actually had an ice box. Yes, Grandpa bought a block of ice weekly, and it was stored on one side of the contraption. Their garden was as big a lot as the one their house was built on. That house was made of stones & bricks. Their house in Alabama had been made of wood. The Alabama house didn’t burn down.

The stone and brick house did.

I’m out of paper and time. I’m so grateful I saw the birthday party today. I’m thankful March is a birthday month for many I love. It’s made me remember the investment deposited into my bank, making me the person I am. Many prayers and much, much love have been directed into my account. Thank you, Father, for the spiritual heritage You wrote in my book. Thank you for letting me re-read a few of those pages today. The chapters have been full of good words.

By Paula Lively. Paula is a Volunteer Chaplain at Broadmoor Medical Lodge in Rockwall. She is a VERY retired RN who loves serving the residents at Broadmoor. She and her husband, Fred, have lived in Rockwall for 15 years.

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