26 on the 26th (of November)

It came. My 26th birthday--this year, my GOLDEN birthday. I remember in elementary school my friends would compare when our golden birthdays would occur. Most of them got to have their golden birthdays a lot earlier then mine and I was envious. (Isn't the world of elementary school fascinating? When else in our lives did birthday dates matter? Or where your name fell in the alphabet? ) There were things of such high importance in elementary school that once I left that stage and moved on, those things didn't carry nearly the importance they used to. My golden birthday was one of those. When I was in elementary school I remember thinking about when I would turn 26 on the 26th of November. I would dream about the woman I would become, if I'd be married, with children, and where I would live. I hope that I'm close to being the person I wanted to be as a young child. I'm sure I would have been shocked to find out that at 26 my residence would still be in Naperville, not 3 miles from where I was living at the time. Crazy how life takes you places you wouldn't have ever dreamed. Anyways, I remember thinking as a child that on my golden birthday I would be given a gold necklace. A yellow gold necklace. It seemed so important back then that I wear gold on my golden birthday. I shared this story with Dave a few days before my birthday, laughing that now being older, I'd rather spend my money on more practical gifts then on golden jewelry. But Dave took that story to heart, and not wanting to disappoint a child's dream, he bought me a golden necklace (for $4 at Forever 21). I wore the "golden" necklace all day in honor of this special birthday.

Thanks Dave for making this day special beginning with black Friday shopping, a prenatal massage (I have never had a professional massage before and I must say, they are LIFE CHANGING), and ending with county dancing. You did an amazing job making my birthday special.