Mike reached a major milestone last week when he turned 70 years of age. Since I married a younger man, I had my 70^th birthday two years ago, and I will soon be 72. Mike and I are both grateful for the blessing of aging, having friends and family who did not live into their 70’s. We know first-hand the gift of living long enough to have a variety of aches and pains, for which we are more than grateful.

On Saturday, November 4^th, Mike and I were at granddaughter Virginia’s gymnastics meet in Florida. For Mike’s birthday dinner in St. Marys, GA on Sunday, November 5^th, daughter Tara and SIL Stephen prepared a delicious low country boil. Mike’s favorite dessert, German Chocolate Cake, was served for dessert. The following Saturday, November 11^th, I prepared a family dinner in Durham, and daughter Chatham provided another German Chocolate Cake. I dared not even try to record the number of Weight Watchers points I had in the amount of cake I ate!

While I took a photo of Mike in GA on his Birthday, that was the only photo I took of him and others at the two birthday dinners. I totally forgot to take any other photos. I suppose I was so busy preparing and serving the dinner in Durham that I did not remember to take photos.

I usually always take photos when the family is together. I started that many years ago when my beloved cousin, Barry, passed away from a heart attack at 40 years of age. Thankfully, I had photos of him from a family baby shower, or we would not have had any recent photos of him. When that happened and I realized how precious those photos would always be, I vowed to always take photos of loved ones when we were gathered, and I usually have done so. Unfortunately, most of the photos are on my iPhone and are not printed.

I do have many boxes of photos of family and experiences through the years. I recently culled those, got rid of all negatives, for I have never had reprints made from negatives, and also threw away duplicates. I also put aside some photos to give to others when we are together during the holidays. I realize that those boxes of photos will not be as valuable to others as they are to me and that many of them may end up in a landfill. But I will leave that for others to deal with, hoping that there will be some of the photos that will be kept and permanent memories that will be treasured.

You and I know that when we are no longer around, all our loved ones will have to remember us by are their memories of us and photos. I vow to remember to take photos when I am with loved ones and to share those with others in meaningful ways.

Happy Birthday, Mike.