Birthday treats

That day when your youngest son has a birthday, doesn't announce it to anyone, doesn't expect a big deal, and you wake up with the impression you should do something for him. You know, like elementary moms bring cupcakes on birthdays. He's been homeschooled his entire life; his birthdays have been cake and ice cream with his sisters and brothers, honestly mostly with sisters because his brothers are 12-16 years older than him.

I brought storebought cookies, a commercial fruit tray and veggie tray, and waited in the background until theater rehearsal reached intermission. They perform in two weeks, and rehearsal time is tight.

They carved out five minutes to sing to him. The lovely young women and young men in the cast all congratulated him and all thanked me for bringing food. They ate almost all of the fruit tray and a lot of the veggies, as well as a tray and a half of cookies, and some mandarin oranges. One woman thanked me for bringing something cool; they're tap dancing up a storm in the basement cafeteria of a church. It's hot with everyone working hard.

The director apologized to me for not having more time to devote to celebration. I thanked her for her patience. I was just grateful to be able to follow inspiration.

I've been crying every few hours for a couple days, thinking about changes coming, missing his dad, missing my parents, feeling stressed. I would have let her know I was going to bring treats...

But I didn't know myself.