sunday june 8

today i was at my grandmother's house for dinner when she pulled out an old folder of letters she had written back when she used to babysit my brother and me, in the eighties. here is a sample excerpt, from a week before my fourth birthday:

i like to make the most out of birthdays, so i put a candle on a cupcake and lit it and sang "happy birthday one week from now." then, we put 4 candles on another chocolate cupcake for luke to have for supper and for his parents to light. luke wasn't very sure that his parents would go for the idea of celebrating when it wasn't the right day. "grandma, what will i tell them?" "just tell them that grandma had this silly idea that they could sing to him a week before his birthday (which is NEXT thur.) and i'll wrap you up a little tiny present to open too. your daddy might think i'm crazy but that's okay." i burst out laughing at his reply, "they BOTH WILL think that."