Today is My 52nd Birthday!

(Me, 50 years ago, on my second birthday.)

I love this photo so much and am very grateful that I have it.  So very thankful, too, for a grandmother who strongly believed in taking photographs, a belief and a love that she passed on to her family.  

So many fondnesses are tucked up in the details.  I'm standing at my beloved Grandma's table in her kitchen, which later became our kitchen when she and Grandpa retired and moved from the farm we shared into a new house in town.  I remember the hutch behind me in their new home and it reminds me of her drawer full of aprons and time spent together in her warm kitchen as she patiently taught me to bake.  Smiling affectionately because the first thing she taught me to make was banana bread and, to this day, I still use her recipe.  Smiling softly now because the two brown wooden chairs in the foreground came to live with us after Grandma and Grandpa died, 4 months apart, in 1976.  

While I so wish I could tell what is in each of the dishes, I do spy a bowl of sweet pickles and a bowl of black olives which, along with the white tablecloth and fresh cut flowers, signifies this was a special occasion in the eyes of the hostess.  I'm thinking I might see a bowl of potato salad, one of my favorites to this day, and a dish I'm told I once broke my arm over when, as a little one, I was trying to get to a bowl of it on another kitchen table on a different day.  

From the number of chairs, I know Grandma, Grandpa, Moma and Daddy were all there.  I also wonder if maybe my other Grandma and Grandpa, along with my youngest Aunt and Uncle weren't there, too?  I'm sure my baby brother was probably either in a high chair or taking a nap.

I remember Grandma's amber "moon and stars" salt and pepper shakers which were always on her table for every meal shared in her home, whether the one on our farm or her house in town.  I love that there's already iced tea poured in the glasses, telling me that all is ready and that everyone else, with their hands washed, of course!, are gathered ~ just out of view of the camera lens ~ and circled around me, the wee guest of honor.  Smiling now as I'm sure several of the onlookers joined Grandma in telling me "smile, Debbie Jo!" as I stood there waiting (and probably wondering what all of this fuss was about).  

I know it's my second birthday, because our family tradition is a "doll cake" for each daughter's birthday #2.  In case you can't quite make her out, there's a small doll standing in the middle of the cake and the actual cake part is decorated around her to look like her beautiful party dress made out of pink and white frosting.  I also see a ring of cupcakes surrounding my birthday cake so now I'm wondering if there might be more guests than are able to be seated at this festive table.  Perhaps a children's table is set up somewhere else?

When I look at this picture, I smile softly and can feel the love in each detail.  As I take a moment to put my hand over my heart and close my eyes this rainy morning, I am smiling softly as I gather in all of the love tucked in this photo and encircle myself with it

. . . again.

(Me, a few days ago ... and the it brings me great comfort to think of the light shining on me as not only Mama Grace and Auntie Mercy, but also the women and men who have loved me and continue to from where they are now, across the veil.)

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