Happy Birthday to Me

Today is my birthday. It is the first one without my mother. At 5:23am (the time I was born) my eyes opened. I said the phrase my mother had repeated for my entire life, "Thank you, Dr. Pace". She said that when I was born. When the doctor said I was a girl, she said thank you to him. We always laughed that he had nothing to do with me being a girl, but I guess in those days no one looked too deeply into things. She only wanted two girls and she was given the gift of a second daughter sixty three years ago today. It will be a hard birthday without her. I used to look forward to my parents singing the happy birthday song to me. We used to call them Roy Rogers and Dale Evans. When people in work would ask me what I got for my birthday I would say that having my parents sing to me and still being able to say the phrase, "Mommy and Daddy", was the only gift I wanted. This year I realized that I do not need any gifts. All I want is for my family to be healthy and happy. No material things are needed. The phrase, "Peace on earth and good will toward man", sums up what is really important.