Happy belated, Chloe!

Monday was a good day. I graded all the papers I needed to hand back, did all the reading I needed to do so I could teach Amy and her friend Lindsay, made sure Rebecca and Michael were ready for their school day, got Amy to her riding lesson on time and even managed to get dinner on the table. I was feeling pretty darn good about all I’d accomplished. Until Rebecca talked to her friend Chloe who told her how her she enjoyed her birthday celebration on Sunday.

My heart sank. I forgot Chloe’s birthday. My sunny Monday turned overcast.

How could I forget her birthday? Ugh! I mean, this is Chloe, the first friend any of us made when we moved here! I’ll never forget seeing a little blond headed, four-year-old pop out her sliding glass door, waving at us as we looked at the house behind hers, the one we’d eventually buy. When the kids and I came to visit Sean after he’d moved in but before we came for good, Chloe and Rebecca played in the snow in the backyards between our two houses. When we finally moved in Chloe and her family were the only ones in the neighborhood to welcome us. Chloe and Rebecca became fast friends and we regularly thank God for putting us in the house directly behind hers.

How could I forget this birthday?

Well, I was two weeks’ late sending my nephew’s present so it’s not like this is an unprecedented move in my world. But still, I felt horrible.

As soon as Rebecca hung up with Chloe she made a bee line for the construction paper to make a birthday card for her friend. And I immediately opened my Google calendar to enter Chloe’s birthday so next year won’t be a repeat of this.

Happy belated birthday, Chloe! (And dear nephew Ben, your birthday’s coming up – if I’m late, please know it’s not personal.)