Happy Birthday to Me - Sentimental Sunday No. 26

Cindy - 3rd birthday

Wow! 50! FIVE - OH - as in OH MY LORD... How did I get to be 50??

They say that fifty is the new forty. OK... Then, can I say that I am celebrating my fortieth birthday tomorrow? I guess I can say whatever I want to say - right? I'm 50... I'm an adult... I'm not getting older I'm getting better.... blah blah blah. Yeah, tell that to my knees and back when I struggle to work out the kinks each morning.

I guess I'm not dealing with this birthday very well. I'm not sure why. I suppose I am acutely aware of how quickly time passes; how fleeting life is; and how much I miss all of the special people in my life - especially at milestones like this. My Mom and Dad ALWAYS made my birthdays so special. We celebrated in style and I felt honored and loved year round - not just on my birthday.

Some of my favorite birthday memories:

6th birthday - I remember a fun party at my house with several of the neighborhood kids. Nothing about the day really stands out in my mind, but I remember how much I loved the dress my Grandma had bought for me to wear.

10th birthday - celebrating with dinner at Robaires in Los Angeles. My favorite restaurant for years - now long gone. As we were seated in our booth, my father looked over and recognized a man sitting there with his wife. The man was the social worker that had handled my adoption. He remembered my Mom and Dad, and it was wonderful for me to get to meet him - and for him to see the happy family that he had helped create.

15th birthday - seeing Elvis Presley at the Las Vegas Hilton. Wow! What a night. That has been a pretty hard one to top! We spent a lot of my birthday's in Las Vegas, and we always had a really great time. My parents and my godparents traveled in style. Must be where I get my "princess" qualities from!

21st birthday - Fantastic party at my godparents home. So much fun; so many friends and family. Good memories!

26th birthday - my first birthday with Richard. We celebrated with my parents, my godparents, and my brother. This was the last time that we were ALL together. My godmother had passed by my 27th birthday - and unfortunately my Mom wasn't too far behind her. But, I digress. The day after my birthday Richard took me to Hawaii to celebrate. We went to Maui, Kauai and Oahu. It was a fabulous trip with the man that I love!

30th birthday - I had an "over the hill" birthday party with friends. It was fun. Oh! If I only knew then what I know now... 30 is definitely not "over the hill", and I suppose when I am turning 70 and I will laugh at how silly I'm being about turning 50!

36th birthday - my first birthday as a Mommy! I love my son. He is the light of my life.

40th birthday - a fabulous party with a huge group of my girlfriends. We had so much fun together... dinner at a local restaurant, the Ram. I told them "no presents". But, one of my friends organized each lady bringing me one flower so that I had a huge gorgeous bouquet by the end of the evening.

I've celebrated 49 birthdays so far - #50 tomorrow. My friend Tom keeps saying this our 600 month birthday! Lord! That sounds even older...

Cindy - 4 years old

I'm celebrating in style this year - we're going to Hawaii. I'm 50, Hawaii is celebrating it's 50 anniversary as a state and it is the 50th state! I really LOVE Hawaii... so I guess I'm in pretty good company.

Aloha and Mahalo for the memories!