Usually, by this time of the year, I am pulling my hair out because in addition to the holiday festivities, I have a lot of birthdays in my world: two close friend’s, my stepdaughter’s, my sister-in-law’s, my father’s, my niece’s and my son’s. But, even with all the craziness, I’ve been thinking a lot about all the wonderful blessings in my life – how I am blessed with a supportive and caring mother and a loving father who never ceases to amaze me with his brilliance.  How I have two awesome brothers who both have great sense of humors. How my heart has been touched by so many delightful dogs and cats over the years. How I have an incredible husband and many great friends. And, with all of this amazing support surrounding me, I feel blessed to finally have fulfilled a big part of a life-long dream to become a published author by signing a two-book deal from Atria Books with Simon and Schuster for my psychological mystery set in Glacier Park.

But, since today is the 18^th of December, it is easy for me to give special thanks to my most wonderful gift of all – my son who was born at 2:29 on December 18^th. One of the things he always loved to do when he was little and made birthday cards for someone he cared about was to use each letter from their name for a descriptive word. So, here’s his for today:

M – Magnificent; A – Athletic; T – Talented; H – Handsome; E – Empathetic; W – Wise

Of course, there are not enough letters to describe all the truly great things about him. As all mothers can say about their children, this child has changed me in so many deep and meaningful ways. Happy Birthday to Mathew and all my family members and friends who have birthdays around this time. And Happy Holidays to everyone!