Wow! There should be a law against having such a HAPPY birthday! The culture thing here in Mexico is for the birthday celebrator to throw his or her own party. It’s really not as self-centered as it sounds. The point is to show all of his or her friends how much they mean to the birthday protagonist by inviting them to join the fun. In this case, that meant the whole church and a few who don’t attend. I decided to throw pozole, tamales and tacos to the wind and serve a Texas-style Bar-B-Qued chicken dinner…let them do the cultural adaptation thing for a change! I made enough for 140 guests, and that was just enough. I am so blessed with so many friends. The house looked like a florist shop with beautiful tropical arrangements everywhere. I love flowers, and everybody knows it, but I really missed receiving one with the invariable, “With all my love forever, Kirt” signature. The massive activity was good to keep me from dwelling on this first birthday without him. It’s hard to imagine being surrounded by so much love, joy, peace and purpose, yet continue to feel the acute sting of loneliness.

Click here to see a slideshow of some of the birthday pictures.