Tuesday Tales: Ryan's Birthday Celebration

 

                Last week was Ryan’s birthday, and while it felt a bit unconventional, it was fun to spoil him and celebrate his life.

                His Dad and stepmom wanted to treat us to dinner, so the night before his birthday, we met them halfway at Cracker Barrel. (They brought Grandma, too!)

Want to hear something amusing about our dinner? This Cracker Barrel is where we meet them for every meal we have with them. It’s in Gas City, right there in the same county where I lived for 16 years. And I never see anyone I know when we meet up to eat. How is that possible? What are the chances that I literally never see anyone I know? This thought crossed my mind as we sat down to dinner, and wouldn’t you know, during this visit, I saw three families I knew. And one of them was a former date. Whoopsie. (He’s very nice and we exchanged pleasantries.)

After we left, we made a wrong turn and decided, impulsively, to swing by Ivanhoes! Unfortunately it couldn’t be a strawberry shortcake night for me since I’d eaten dinner, but we did get ice cream! (Thank goodness they have mini shakes.) And did you even go to Ivanhoes if you don’t get a picture with Garfield?

Ryan woke up on his birthday with my cold. Oops. That wasn’t the gift I intended to give.

He had taken the day off work and the only thing he wanted out of life for that day was to organize the garage. It sounded like a terrible birthday celebration to me, but it’s what he really really wanted, so I told him to go for it. I promised to keep birthday fun coming his way throughout the day, and I did!

I got up and drove to the Shaka Shack to get birthday Americanos, ran through the Dollar General for Mucinex (nothing says Happy Birthday like a fresh bottle of cold meds!) and then picked up his favorite breakfast pizza on my way home.

He got busy working, and Lexi and I even joined him for a while to help with organization and cleaning. She was living her best life helping him!

While he continued to work, I came in and set up a little birthday corner for his gift-opening festivities. Lexi wanted to help with that, too.

He mentioned being frustrated with his office Keurig (our old one from our camping days) because it doesn’t have a water reservoir, and he doesn’t have a convenient water source to fill it every time he wants to use it. Since he’s moving to a different office, this felt like the perfect time to upgrade his coffee station!

It rained – a pretty, gentle rain – in the afternoon, so he had to finish his chores in the rain.

I left dinner choices up to him, and he didn’t feel like getting ready so late in the day, so we ran into Decatur to Soul Pig, a BBQ place we like but don’t get to eat at too often. We got a meal to go and it ended up giving each of us two meals!

He said it had been the perfect day. I was so happy he was so happy! (And the garage really does look nice.)

Saturday morning I had to get up early and drive to Ohio for a funeral visitation for church. Ryan stayed home and continued the birthday celebration by washing cars. He also installed our bedroom air conditioner, and he finished up in time for us to go for a quick ride around the lake.

We had small group that night and kept the birthday celebration going – steaks and asparagus!

The celebration was low key. The decorations were minimal. The candles never made an appearance. But he loved his time of rest, organization, and time alone with Lexi and me, so the birthday proved to be a success!