Gimme Five!

If you followed the news this past week, you couldn't help but pick up on stories that suggested the added importance -- or perhaps luck -- associated with the arrival of this particular date: 07-07-07. For reasons I still haven't really understood, July 7th became one of the most sought after dates in recent memory for people planning weddings. ESPN had a lot of fun suggesting that there was some additional importance with the date, finding strange and wonderful links to fate and/or luck (Something about a player with the uniform number 7 getting a clutch hit in the 7th inning to drive in a run that made the score 4-3... yes, totalling 7 combined runs!). I could probably spend a huge amount of time dismissing this need to hand over an element of luck to ballgames, marriages, and whatever other life events occur.

For OUR family, however, this date took on added importance in a very REAL way: the 5th birthday of our daughter. For us, July 7th meant that Su has completed 5 calendar years of living, loving, and learning on this planet. No more kiddie parties watching a toddler smear cake and drool. This is a young lady we're now watching grow up right before our eyes. Beautiful, funny, intelligent, and continuing on toward greatness: in the form of whatever she chooses to be in life.

And July 7th also meant another blistering hot day for a party. Family and a few friends came by to celebrate with Su and share in a day of food, beverages, music, and chatter. Pizza from Taylor Street was a huge hit. And the near-90 degree temperatures assured that coolers filled with water, soda, and brews would not go to waste.

Su had so much fun. Between the heat and the activities, this little girl was tuckered out beyond belief and went to bed with a smile that spelled out the obvious: She had a wonderful time. A very REAL birthday celebrated on a very REAL day. No luck. No hocus-pocus.

Happy Birthday, Su!