Top Ten Things About Hannah At 14

10. Hannah is now old enough to get a job in Massachusetts. She probably won’t. But it still cheers me up to think about it.
9. Hannah doesn’t trip over nothing quite as much as she used to. She’s still a klutz, but it’s sort of cute now.
8. Hannah and I went school shopping yesterday. We actually agreed on which sneakers are cool this year.
7. Which does not mean we agreed on which backpack to choose. Just saying.
6. Hannah becomes a high school freshman on Wednesday. This should go a long way in explaining the importance of #8 and #7.
5. Hannah mostly remembers to feed the dog. If she forgets, the dog is really good at reminding her.
4. Hannah is smart enough to have chosen mom’s homemade chocolate cake to have for her birthday dessert. Everyone in the family is grateful for this decision.
3. Hannah is just as pretty at 14 as she was at 13. Maybe even prettier.
2. Hannah is a loving and caring daughter/sister/friend.
1. Hannah is loved very much by her Mom and Dad. This will be true no matter what her age.

Won’t you all join me in wishing Hannah a very happy 14th birthday? Thanks, everyone!

My father-in-law, Jack, turned 80 last Friday. He was the guest of honor at a party held at his very own establishment, Jack’s Service. I may have had my reservations about throwing a party in an auto garage, but Jack’s friends at the shop knew what they were doing. It was relaxed and fun in a very retro kind of way.

Now, Jack has a way of bringing together all kinds of people – and this party was a perfect example of that.
There was family. LOTS of family.

And friends. LOTS and LOTS of friends.

There was the band, of course.

And food. Cooked on a very nifty (and borrowed) grill by the coordinator of this whole she-bang.

Like any good birthday party, there was cake.

And the biggest birthday card I have ever seen.

Finally, there was a major surprise. This is Sleepy LaBeef.

Have you heard of him? He’s also known as The Human Jukebox and he’s a very good friend of Jack’s. Sleepy was flown into town by the organizers of this party. His plane was delayed several hours but he finally arrived at about 10 pm. The look on Jack’s face when Sleepy strode into the garage and walked up to the microphone and started singing and playing was priceless.

Most of us were rocking and rolling into the wee hours.

The title of this post, by the way, was inspired by Sleepy’s closing song of the night. Yup, it was “Amazing Grace.” And it made me think how we were all together due not only to the amazing grace of God but also the amazing grace of my father-in-law. A man who loves everyone and everything and always find joy in life. Happy Birthday, Jack. And many, many more.

Remember how the prize winning comment was #213? And how I said that it was a random number? It wasn’t. I lied. You see, it was representative of something major that happens tomorrow. My daughter Hannah will turn 13. Yup, my baby is a teenager. Sigh.

I could write a lot of things about Hannah and how fast she’s grown and I could spend time contemplating where these years went. I could tell you that she’s a great actress and she sings in the shower. I could mention that she has tried to learn to knit but just can’t stick with it. I could tell you that she has lots of friends and a great personality. Or I could even talk about the time she tripped and fell over absolutely nothing. But I won’t because I might embarrass her. And you guys know how easy it is to embarrass a teenage girl. And how long you have to suffer the consequences.

So, I’ll just say Happy Birthday, Hannah. And then I’ll spend some time contemplating how we went from this:

to this:

in the blink of an eye.

Won’t you all join me and wish Hannah a happy birthday?