Alexis B

What a wonderful day. 45 years ago I was born and so was my twin sister. We got 2 birthdays that year because 6 months later a wonderful couple from Cambridge adopted us.My birthday once again this year dragged on for 2 weeks.

It started out where my good friend who celebrates also on March 22 her birthday, went out for our annual birthday lunch. Sandy came to Cambridge where we met at my home. Upon her arrival to my home she gave me a wonderful bunch of fresh cut Tulips and a really cool book. We left my house to go for lunch. As we started to drive down the road we decided to go to the Blackshop Restaurant instead of just a cafe. We decided that we really should celebrate our birthdays and friendship with an extra special lunch. As we sat and shared stories of things happening in our lives, family and friends we realized that we have known each other now for 22 years. We also spent talking about Sandra’s new career at ICOL. For me this is probably one of the longest and closest friends I have ever had. Time can pass by for days, weeks, months & when we get together or connect on the phone it is like no time has passed.

I have been so blessed by Sandy and her family over the years I watched her children develop into fine adults. Both develop wonderful careers for them selves, become partners to that special someone and for Shes to become a mother herself. I have been truly blessed to be a part of that. Thank you all for accepting me into your lives and families I am truly honored to share in this.

Then moving along I decided I would like to cook for some very special friends just to say thank you for being important in my life so I did that last Sunday afternoon. Most that know me know I love to cook gourmet fancy meals. Being single I do not usually cook like that for myself. I love to entertain and to do new fun things. So off to the St. Lawrence Market I headed to buy some special items. I got blue potatoes; no one had ever seen nor heard of them before. I got the best beans I have seen in a very long time, and the best thing I got was the gigantic strawberries. They were wonderful. What a wonderful lunch and afternoon visiting and talking with my special friends.

Now Tuesday night my best friend’s son Glenn the guy at the end with hair and a beard plays in a Christian rock band Downhere and they were kicking off the introduction of their new album with a Canadian concert opening in Cambridge. Of course I wanted to go and support them. Two really cool things happened at this concert. First was I gave myself a Birthday present I wanted to give myself for a very long time! As a young child I always remember my parents had an adopted child from Can Save the Children Fund. Our adopted child was Nim Lou who my parents met in Hong Kong I think years ago. Then about oh I would say around ten years ago I started doing the Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes with my niece and nephew and then I got my mother to once again adopt a child. It has always been in my heart to do this some day. I have never made it happen. This year I decided it was time to take this on. My cousin works for World Vision, Downhere promotes World Vision at all their concerts and the World Vision commercials always break my heart every time I see them. I took action and I now have an adopted child named Alinafe Munthali from Malawi.

The second thing that happened was that Downhere's promoters CMC Distribution had a couple of raffles, one for a pair of Kingdom Bound tickets and one for a Fender Electric Guitar. Now any one who knows me and the Lav family know I gave Jonah a toy guitar for his birthday, Miles a toy piano for his birthday and for Christmas I gave to them both a set of toy drums. So me and my sick sense of humor thought it would be funny to enter their names and mine into the draw thinking we would never win in a million years. Well I won the guitar. So I ask my self over and over what I am going to do with an Electric Guitar. I kept getting the answer sell it. Now any reasonable offer I would sell this guitar. Well I will keep you informed about this guitar, as time passes by.

Wednesday was my actual Birthday. I got several calls through out the day from friends and family. Last year my friend Joan and I went out for dinner and our plan afterwards was to go to a movie. Well we had some time between dinner and the movie so we decided to have a pedicure to help time pass by, oh what a treat. So again this year I decided this would be fun to do on my actual Birthday and Joan agreed to join me for a pedicure. So I went to the Lav house for dinner and then Joan & I went for a pedicure and Glen our chauffer for the night went and saw a movie. We had decided after the pedicure we would go back to the Lav house for a chocolate fondue, but when we arrived there everyone had gone off to bed so we decided we would do this on the weekend.

Normally every year for years I plan my own birthday party and it usually consist of a bunch of my friends getting together for dinner and bowling or something fun afterwards. This year I decided I just wanted to spend it with my Sunday lunch gang. We all went for Thai food and it was great. The restaurant turned down the lights and brought ice-cream with sparklers, singing happy birthday. I was so embarrassed but at the same time thought it was cool. Then Joan had us all back to their place for the chocolate fondue and she surprised me with a cake.

I was so touched. Like my friend Sandy and her family I have been so blessed by the Lavender Family as well. You all have accepted me into their lives unconditionally and I cherish all the special times we have together. Thanks to you all for being in my life and for sharing your lives with me. I so love all the warm hugs and kisses from those two adorable little men. It has been so neat in the short time that you have been in my life to see you 3 become parents, and to watch and be apart of their lives as they grow and develop into little men. Thank you for giving me the gift of friendship.

And I think or hope that my final birthday celebration was tonight at my older brothers home. He had all my siblings and their spouses and children for dinner. Jamie does this every year and it is so very nice of him. He and his wife Marlene are fabulous cooks and we always have a great meal. The kids are always so much fun to play with. They are all getting so excited cause in about 3 weeks we leave on our family cruise. All 18 of the Bennett clan are off to the Cayman Islands and Jamaica on a cruise supplied by our parents for their 50th wedding anniversary. Thanks mom & dad what a wonderful gift to all of us. It was nice to end such a wonderful week with my family, sharing, laughing and just being together. My niece Kate who is gong to be 20 is away at 2nd yr in University, Mike just turned 18 and is school captain, & chair person for his school for the Relay for life. Oh how they grow up and make ya feel so old. Benny 12, turning into a teenager this November is off to high school this fall. MacKenzie and Rob are not far behind. And well they others they just are still at that young funny silly age. So much fun to be with. God may have not Blessed me with my own children but he sure Blessed me with a wonderful niece and wonderful nephews. MacKenzie loves music and is hoping to get a small band together of his friends; he has an acoustic and went nuts to hear I won an Electric Fender Guitar. So guess who know owns it. Yes MacKenzie. He has been taking lessons for over a year and he is buying an amp from a friend. He made me a deal i could not refuse, he is a wheeler and a dealer and I am just glad to see the smile on his face when he went home tonight. I makes it all worth while. He is so excited he is probably sleeping with his new guitar as we speak.

Well thanks to all who helped me to celebrate my Birthday.

You all made it so very special and I do thank you for that.

Till next year, wait maybe I will start counting backwards from now on.