Forever Young @ 41

I don't know if I should start at the beginning and work forward or start at now and work backwards just because it is less hard, but I do believe that since I usually start with that which hurts the worst...I believe I answered my own question so here it goes...

Mitchell's 41st Birthday... Feb 21st.

I got a fondue pot around Christmas and Stone had been on me ever since to make cheese fondue as he is not at all a chocolate fan. So we sent Daddy to play guitar in the basement as we got to work. We made his favorite vanilla cake with chocolate icing (always in a bunt pan...just seems to be easier to cut and serve that way). We cut up bread and apple pieces to go along with the baby carrots to be dipped into the fondue and we were set to start heating up the pan. In reality I actually lost the kids around the time I started cutting up the bread but I handed them Daddy's gift a Play Station 3 (a secret to only the kids) I had actually given it to him a month prior so that he could break it out during his "Boy's Night's" Video Gaming Parties. I made him repackage it back up after each and every encounter and say nothing about it as I wanted the kids to be as excited for Daddy as Daddy actually was the first time he knew he was getting it. So anyhow I handed the kids Mitchell's gifts and the wrapping paper, tape, kid scissors and let them go at it. They LOVE to wrap gifts...it takes more paper and definitely more tape... but at least I don't have to do it! So I finish up the fondue, which literally takes 4 minutes at the most and I call up Mitchell. It always takes him forever to come up as he pretends not to hear me call over the guitar so that he can finish the song he is playing...knowing this...I send Stone down to get him and five minutes later up comes the birthday boy and all his excited kids behind him minus the twins who are now sleeping :) Lucky Mommy~






As you can see the fondue was a hit! It was a first in our house and everyone loved it...great idea Stoney B. After dinner we sang to Mitchell, ate cake and ice cream and he opened his gifts.


We then just sat around the family room as a family. I remember thinking how hot I thought he looked and I kept taking picture after picture of him just sitting there. One time he looked over at me and gave me this look like "What are you doing?" It snapped me out of it for a minute like...what am I doing? I had taken like 20 pictures of him over and over just because he was so beautiful to me sitting there apparently doing absolutely nothing at all. (smile) I love those pictures!

You know the night before...to celebrate his birthday he had a Game night with "The Boy's" I was filling up my water before walking upstairs to make myself scarce and all the sudden it hit me. "Mitchell (I said) we met 11 years ago today" 41 days later he would be gone.

This will not be the last birthday of Mitchell's that we celebrate. Every year we will make one of his favorite dinners...Shrimp fried rice, Broccoli and Rice Casserole, Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with salt and vinegar chips washed down with a Coke. We will make his favorite cake and tie balloons to his chair at the dinner table. It will not be a sad day but a celebration for the man who we loved. Who will stay 41 forever.

How fair is that? As I get older and wrinklier, saggier, and grayer. That is so like Mitchell... Cant win so has to cheat to keep the leg up!