Thursday, October 27, 2016

My Mom's Birthday Pumpkin...A Family Tradition


The last two years I've had busy Octobers. My son and I worked Frightmares, our local amusement park Halloween celebration. And last year as well as this, I'm in a Christmas play. It doesn't give me a lot of time for extras.

Ever since I can remember I've carved a pumpkin for my mother's birthday. Today is that day. Nine years ago was the first time I was unable to give her birthday pumpkin to her in person. She passed away a few months before. For the past nine years I've carved a pumpkin and placed it on her grave. I might have missed a year--I'll have to check my journal. But if I did miss a year, I know it's something I wanted to do.

Since last year and this year were busy, I ended up carving my mom's pumpkin not at my home, but at different locations. Last year I took my pumpkin down to Frightmares and carved it between shows. I'm sure I took a picture and posted it here. I'll have to check my blog. This year I took a pumpkin to my writing group and as we discussed each other's writing selections, I cut the top off the pumpkin, took out all the innards, and wrote my mom a message, something I would have told her had she been here.

I can't really remember exactly when I started this family tradition, but it's probably been twenty-five or thirty years. When I was away on my mission and when I was in school, I'm sure I failed to deliver a Happy Birthday pumpkin, as well as a few times since being married. I'll try and do better in the future. But for the last two years at least, I know I've done it.

Today marks my mom's eighty-fifth birthday. I'm glad I'm continuing this tradition. It allows me to remember just what a special lady she was. Happy B-Day Mom!

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