Gifts of Family

So many gifts to thank my family for.

Your neighbor girl can give you a red squeeze coin purse, or your class give you a card, but it’s not your birthday till you come home and smell cake baking and every room they say Go Away I’m wrapping your gift, heart fluttery what did they get you go outside on snowy steps feel how it feels to be older. Then Dad’s home martini shaker shaking and “Dinner” calls Mom and on the table red roast beef green beans with almonds and not Christmas fruitcake this time because of Christmas Eve tomorrow, but real black chocolate cake with your name on in yellow and huge pile of presents they pull out your chair sing happy birthday.

Unwrap. Yay! Paint-by-number horses from Pogo-Bogo. Yay! Silver Scottie pin from Kako. Boo! Green eraser from Jim. But don’t let him know. Yay! Paddle with cowboy and red ball to-whackit to-whackit from Skip. Yay! Glider plane of ice cream cone type wood from Tom. Yay! Automatic pencil from Ro.

Big one from Mom and Dad. Go slow or it’s over too fast. Over your neck curl the gold ribbon, unstick tape from tissue, slide out box. Who could believe my eyes? Jon Gnagy’s Learn To Draw Set! My heart’s desire! Yay! Yay! Leap up and kiss everyone. Then dinner. Then brothers turn off every light and everyone sings by white flame candles, Happy Birthday to You. Wish for your horse blow out candles everything’s dark everyone’s clapping. Lights fly on candletips black smell the wax pull one out lick the frosting on it off it. Get surprised how fast it was. Almost you remember it before it happened.