It seems that the last month has been full of birthday celebrations. Four girls have been celebrating their big day over a four week period. This means lots of singing, lots of cake, and lots of “queen for a day” days!!
Lovely turned three on March 20th, followed closely by Rose-Myrlande, six on March 26th. Berlinda rings in the month of April turning two on the first, and Egnese brings this whirlwind period to an end on April 12th when she turns eight.
Birthday celebrations at HOPE consist of the “Birthday Girl” getting to choose which “fancy” dress she will wear that day, a specially made crown (usually including foil and glitter), deferential treatment for the day (sitting at the head of the table, choosing which songs to sing, which music to listen to and or which video to watch), and going first in everything for that day. All day long the other girls sing different variations of “Happy Birthday” to the birthday girl until, after supper, the big event of the evening, the PARTY. Everybody gathers around the table, the birthday cake is presented, the birthday song is sung, candles are snuffed out and the cake is consumed. Usually we have cake everywhere, on the floor, on the chairs, on the clothes and in the hair! But the girls all have such fun celebrating it is all worth it to see the smiling frosting covered faces.
After the clean up, the birthday girl gets to “come home” with the Banks family. She gets to spend the evening upstairs, playing games and hanging out with mom and dad and the Banks kids all by herself. Special attention without having to share! Then she spends the night upstairs. The next morning she gets to tell all the other girls about the fun she had. They all gather round to hear the stories, ask questions and think about how they will spend their own birthdays.
The birthdays also remind us of how the girls have grown; how they have become a family and how blessed we are to share these special memories with these special girls.