The other day I did something that I hadn't done in over seven years. I am not sure why I did it and I am not sure what I was expecting when I did it. I was driving home from work and I was thinking about my son's upcoming 21st birthday and how I wish my parents were still alive to celebrate the big day with us. My father died before my son was born and I have always thought that those two would have been kindred spirits. My mom died back in 2006; the summer that my son was turning 14 years old.
So, I don't know why, but, I dialed the phone number to my parents house. Well, the phone number that was the Kirby's phone number for as long as I could remember. I'm not sure what I expected or what I would have done if someone answered. I think I dialed the number wishing that somehow their phone number had gotten transferred to their new home in heaven and one of them would pick up the phone and say, "Hello, Kirby's". Maybe I dialed the number because I really missed both of them and I wished I could talk to them. I feel that way sometimes when life overwhelms me or if there is a big life event about to happen and I wish they were still here to celebrate with us.
The phone rang a few times and then an answering machine kicked in with "You have reached 301-724-1..." and I hung up. My mom used to have a personal greeting with her voice on the answering machine so I knew that the number hadn't been transferred to heaven. For a brief moment, I remembered how wonderful it used to be to hear their voices on the other end of the phone and how much I miss them now. But as Dad used to say, "Life goes on..." and it does.
So today, the Kirby family will gather at the Kirbarosa and we will celebrate another milestone in our family's history. As we celebrate Nathan's 21st birthday, I know at sometime during the day, I'll pause and give thanks to God for George and Juanita, that wacky couple, who thought it might be a good idea to have just one more child, who would later fall in love with his high school sweetie and they would have a bunch of Kirby Kids and so on and so on and so on.
Be Well.
Bill
