Dear Matt,
Today you are ... older than you were yesterday.
This morning, Cooper woke up absurdly early. There is a buzz of excitement (and anxiety) in the air because today begins the chaos that is the Flemming Birthday Bonanza!!! Right now, you are on your way to pick up your father, Pupa, and spend the day as the middle of three generations of Flemmings who are, at last, in one another's company.
I just want to tell you that I'm proud of you, and I love you. I can see the excitement that this day brings, like you really are a kid again somehow. Birthdays should have that set-apart feeling where you get to sleep late, get woken up with treats and hand-drawn cards and presents, and try to ignore the crabbiness of your wife who's been up since 6:10 with the baby. But you were patient and kind and gracious, embodying all of the goodness that one should feel and radiate on his birthday.
Today, I celebrate the day you were born. It hovers so close to when your father and our son were born that God most certainly knew was up in scheduling this mess. I look to you and I see the orbit of energy, generoisty, and effervescent love that connects you from generation to generation. You were knit together in your mother's womb and prepared for a life of fullness and emotion, joy and sorrow. I am so grateful that somehow, in some divine and mysterious way, you... a baby born in Canada got matched up with me, a little girl from Tennessee. It's impossible, unlikely, and can only be pre-ordained.
(As an aside: the Reformed theology so evidently present in this post is my birthday gift to Matt.)
I know that today, on your birthday, you will celebrate with laughter and light, company of friends and family, and you will rejoice that God has provided you with all that you need. I am so glad that I get to share this day and lifetime with you as your wife and best friend.
Happy Birthday, Boo.
Love,
Mandy
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