Last week was Tam’s mom’s birthday. She would have been 78 years old. It is the first birthday without her here to celebrate, so it was a very hard day.
Tam woke up early, and we spent time talking, and Tam wrote the most beautiful poem. We all dressed nicely and went to her favorite restaurant to celebrate her birthday.
On the way there, we stopped by the coroner’s office. We had placed an ornament in honor of Nancy on their tree for Christmas, and we had to pick it up before they packed them away for next year.
When we arrived at Firebird’s, we elected to sit outside. It was a beautiful day, around 73 degrees. We were the only ones on the patio, which was perfect. We set up a memorial set of pictures and a poem Tam wrote to her mom last year on the chair, and put the ornament on the table in front of it. I also had gotten Tam a present that reminded me of her mom. It is a glass angel with red roses inside. Red was Nancy’s favorite color, and Tam loves roses.
We had the BEST waiter. His name was Kevin. He was kind and sensitive, but not overly sappy or anything. He took wonderful care of us. He was attentive to all our needs, and to the reason for our visit.
When I didn’t like my coleslaw, he replaced it with tater tots without any issue and super quick, too!
When it was time for dessert, he came out and said he wanted to give us a free dessert in honor of Tam’s mom. Normally for birthdays they give a tiny few bites of a dessert, but he said he wanted to give us a full size one in memory of Nancy. We chose cheesecake as it was Nancy’s favorite. It was very tasty, but we all teared up a bit when he brought it out, and we said a few words about Nancy.
Later that day, when we arrived home, we had a drink and toasted to Nancy. It was a hard day overall, but also a good one. We were happy to remember Nancy and be together, even while it was hard to celebrate her birthday without her.
Brad took pictures at Firebirds, and they are below. Tam and I are wearing black, and Brad is wearing burgundy. We hope next year’s birthday will be just as special as we continue to celebrate Nancy and form new memories in her honor.
