Friday 55 & Da Count-Update and Growing Up

The picture above is from one of the other 55ers, Clean and Crazy, who asked the rest of us to post it today.

UPDATE IN 55

Thanks to all who sent prayers, positive thoughts, or encouragement to Gman yesterday. the surgeons gave him a reprieve since he is responding to antibiotics. He will have surgery in a few weeks but he'll be more mentally prepared for it, will feel stronger, and it WON'T be on his birthday.

Good news all around!

DA COUNT

Diana also has a birthday this week. This strong-willed child of mine will be another year older and is soon to finish her first semester of college.

About a month ago already Diana did her Christmas shopping. She called me one day very excited to report what she had chosen for everyone. I was impressed at the thoughtfulness, creativity, and bargain hunting she had displayed. Her excitement brought back memories of my first Christmas in college and how delighted I was to be able to give gifts I had chosen and paid for by myself.

She also asked for help with an idea for my brother. He has been published in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine twice and recently sold them a third story, which is a count all by itself. I suggested since Diana enjoys writing poetry she ought to share some of her work with him. She was unnerved by the idea because she very much looks up to him in a literary manner and was afraid he'd find her efforts sophomoric at best. I assured her he'd be honored to receive such a gift and reminded her he knows what rejection letters feel like and would be gentle with her, though she really wouldn't need charity, she agreed and asked me to help polish one of her pieces for him.

I'm not sure she realizes what a gift it was that she'd also trust me to help her go through that process. In the past, when she asked me to edit papers for school, it was not always a pleasant exchange of ideas. This was a sweet give and take as we worked together on a gift for my brother. As you know from an earlier post, I don't take for granted that he's even a part of my life.

Earlier this week, Diana and I exchanged a series of text messages wherein she made one final request for Christmas. She told me her dad and I are not to get her any presents because our gift to her is sending her to college. Excuse me, I seem to have a lump in my throat.

So this week I am counting a daughter who is not only having a birthday this week and thus advancing chronologically, but a daughter who is really growing up in some lovely ways.