I love the 1st of May. It just seems like a lovely day. It's Spring, it's beautiful and it just happens to be the birthday of my two favorite Abby's in the world.
Once upon a time we lived near each other and celebrating them both was easy. Now we just have to do it thousands of miles apart.
We had a special day that started with Dad's presence for the presents. He is usually long gone by the time we are getting up for school so it was special that he was able to hang around long enough for the singing and gift giving.
I'm so glad she had a "happy birthday hat" to wear. This girl is easy. She was in love with everything she got and was just happy happy happy all day. So she is. Abby is our happy, easy going girl.
Hazel and I met her for lunch at school and brought her the lunch of choice, breaksticks from the Target food court. I told you she was easy to please. (Even though our trip to Target turned into a traumatic experience...see below.)
Her request for dinner was not on my list of favorites but we indulged in a trip to Olive Garden. Which turned out horrible and lovely all at once....horrible to find not only a hair in Hazel's food (send it back) but a piece of cinnamon gum still in the wrapper at the bottom of my food - I knew that wasn't basil that I was tasting. So gross. So double gross. But the manager handled it exactly as he should have by comping the entire meal and then giving us a generous gift card so we will actually come back again....maybe we will, for dessert sometime.
We headed home and had a delicious Skor cake and enjoyed the company of Heber and Gentri who joined us for the festivities and obligatory watching of the birthday girl slideshow (that's my favorite part.)
I love celebrating my little people. It makes me weep with gratitude that I have them, even though my energy and effort is waxing and waning to celebrate them properly this particular year. It also makes me rather excited that the next birthday to be celebrated will be that of Little Brother. I'm ready. With his crib painting finished up and the arrival of his stroller/car seat this morning, I say bring it. We're ready.
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Traumatic experience.
I don't want to tarnish Abby's lovely birthday by sharing but I also know that something unusual happened today that scared me to death and made me hug my children a little tighter this morning. I mentioned we stopped by Target before hitting the school to meet Abby for lunch. We had some extra time so Hazel and I wandered isles for a little bit picking up odds and ends. We finished our check out and then were hanging out near the food court to get Abby's special lunch when the first of the emergency team arrived. They rushed passed where we were standing and shouted out the need for directions to the book section. Assuming it was a routine emergency response to something like chest pains, we finished what we were doing and made our way outside. I hurried Hazel into the car so we could make it out of our close parking spot before being trapped in by the firetruck and ambulance that were just pulling into the parking lot. We made it out just as the firetruck pulled in front of where we had parked. I didn't think much of it until we were leaving the school almost an hour later and there was a helicopter hovering above the store. I thought it was strange but didn't give it much more thought than that. During piano lessons just a few hours later we swung by the Target again to pick up some shoes for Abby but found that every entrance was blocked off, the store had been closed and there were police cars all over. We decided to play at the park across the street during the lesson with a friend who was able to tell us that they had found a women, shot in the back of the store earlier that day.
Later last night I came across a more detailed article that explained that a woman had taken her own life, back in the book section. I was a little in shock until it hit me like a truck. Hazel and I had been in the section just across from there not 10 minutes before it happened. I had overwhelming feelings of sadness for this woman, for her desperation. But I also felt overwhelmed and scared that someone so mentally anguished was walking around with a gun, so close to where my daughter and I were so casually picking out binkies and onesies. I feel dumb to have been doing something so cavalier when something so major was happening. We didn't hear a shot, there was no shouting. In fact, the Target employee that directed the first police officers casually told another shopper, who stopped to ask her what was going on, that it was nothing and to continue shopping. If I am feeling so shaken by just being there when it happened, I cannot imagine what the employees that were there helping and blocking the area off, or the woman and her 5 year old daughter who witnessed it, are going through today. Bless the woman's family and everyone else affected by it. It is scary, and sad, and sobering.
I don't think I will be able to go back to the store for a while.
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| The Birthday Abbys in May 2007 |
We had a special day that started with Dad's presence for the presents. He is usually long gone by the time we are getting up for school so it was special that he was able to hang around long enough for the singing and gift giving.
We headed home and had a delicious Skor cake and enjoyed the company of Heber and Gentri who joined us for the festivities and obligatory watching of the birthday girl slideshow (that's my favorite part.)
****************************
Traumatic experience.
I don't want to tarnish Abby's lovely birthday by sharing but I also know that something unusual happened today that scared me to death and made me hug my children a little tighter this morning. I mentioned we stopped by Target before hitting the school to meet Abby for lunch. We had some extra time so Hazel and I wandered isles for a little bit picking up odds and ends. We finished our check out and then were hanging out near the food court to get Abby's special lunch when the first of the emergency team arrived. They rushed passed where we were standing and shouted out the need for directions to the book section. Assuming it was a routine emergency response to something like chest pains, we finished what we were doing and made our way outside. I hurried Hazel into the car so we could make it out of our close parking spot before being trapped in by the firetruck and ambulance that were just pulling into the parking lot. We made it out just as the firetruck pulled in front of where we had parked. I didn't think much of it until we were leaving the school almost an hour later and there was a helicopter hovering above the store. I thought it was strange but didn't give it much more thought than that. During piano lessons just a few hours later we swung by the Target again to pick up some shoes for Abby but found that every entrance was blocked off, the store had been closed and there were police cars all over. We decided to play at the park across the street during the lesson with a friend who was able to tell us that they had found a women, shot in the back of the store earlier that day.
Later last night I came across a more detailed article that explained that a woman had taken her own life, back in the book section. I was a little in shock until it hit me like a truck. Hazel and I had been in the section just across from there not 10 minutes before it happened. I had overwhelming feelings of sadness for this woman, for her desperation. But I also felt overwhelmed and scared that someone so mentally anguished was walking around with a gun, so close to where my daughter and I were so casually picking out binkies and onesies. I feel dumb to have been doing something so cavalier when something so major was happening. We didn't hear a shot, there was no shouting. In fact, the Target employee that directed the first police officers casually told another shopper, who stopped to ask her what was going on, that it was nothing and to continue shopping. If I am feeling so shaken by just being there when it happened, I cannot imagine what the employees that were there helping and blocking the area off, or the woman and her 5 year old daughter who witnessed it, are going through today. Bless the woman's family and everyone else affected by it. It is scary, and sad, and sobering.
I don't think I will be able to go back to the store for a while.
8 comments:
Yikes, and happy birthday.
I like the lunch with Mom tradition. Too bad about the Target incident. How awful!
I also love May 1. Such a great day to get married. But, how tragic and awful. Makes you want to hold on to your little ones really tight.
And...isn't it fun picking out boy stuff after so much girlie things :)
Um, AWFUL!
I mean happy birthday Abby! (Which one do I comment on first?) I wish I had been more on the ball and sent my special little kindred something or even called her at least. Glad she's so happy.
There is something very wrong with your Olive Garden. Like, close it down wrong. Ew.
It sounds like our second children are very similar (even when their birthdays fall). Maybe spring babies are just easy going?
Happy Birthday to Abby!
Sorry that the day was tainted with sadness.
And GUM!!! That is crazy that you found that in your dinner. I'm glad the manager made it right. Although, you should hold out for dessert. Like Pumpkin Cheesecake in the fall.
I am so glad Lil' Babs has a lovely day. She is such sweetheart and I miss her!
I am feeling chills over your Target experience. What a sad thing and why did she choose that particular place to do it? It breaks my heart, but I am so grateful you weren't in danger and that you didn't have to witness it.
woah.
holy moly, that is so scary! her young daughter was with her???
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