Today is my birthday. But it isn't just my birthday . . . it's OUR birthday. I share my birthday with two of my cousins. Yes, two - my cousin Scott on my dad's side of the family and my cousin Cindy on my mom's side of the family. I caused quite a stir for my mom's family when I was born because I was the first baby to come along in 17 years. I guess you could say I was probably a little spoiled, especially by my cousin Cindy. Many of you know her as my "cousin who owns the flower shop." Every year on our birthday, she sends me flowers! I loved getting flowers sent to school because then everyone knew it was my birthday. I thought those days were over when I went away to college at West Georgia, but my birthday flowers always managed to find my dorm room or apartment. And then I moved to Louisiana. Surely they wouldn't find me there. But they did! And now in Mississippi I still get my birthday flowers. This year I was really surprised because Cindy sent my flowers on Monday. She said she wanted me to enjoy them a few days because she knew I would be leaving tomorrow to go to Georgia for Easter. Most of the time, she sends me a cut arrangement. But this year I received a huge basket full of beautiful plants that I can use in my pots and garden areas. When I called Cindy to thank her for the arrangement, I asked her what she told the florist to do (I always like to know if they did what she told them to or not!). She said she told them that most of all, she wanted it to say "spring" (our birthday is also the first day of spring!). And second of all, she wanted it to be something I could use in my yard. So I told her that she would be quite pleased with the results.
Cindy is 17 years older than I am. She celebrated her 47th birthday today. So I'll let you do the math on that one to figure out how old I am today . . . and believe me, I feel every bit of it!Cindy, thank you for another year of beautiful blooms! Happy OUR Birthday! I love you.