happy birthday, princess

When my father in law turned 60, they had a big party. Some of his friends gave him one of those musical cards & when you opened it, it burst into song, "Celebrate good times c'mon!"
Mollen was completely entranced.
This was the best thing she had ever seen.
Ever.
She was too little to remember the time Granny had sent them all musical valentines & Peyton had opened hers to hear the piercing rendition of "Fur Elise" coming from the inside, snapped it shut & with a devilish grin & eyebrows raised ecstatically told me, "There's something annoying in here!!"
This was Mollen's first experience with such a phenomenon.
From then on, she was as conscious of cards as her dad is... He shakes them open looking for money... she would open carefully, hoping for annoying ... ahem... melodious sounds to escape.
When Gammy asked her what she wanted for her birthday 7 months later, her only request was a 'Celebrate' card. My Mother in law took her on a little shopping trip & sent her home with a bag full of loot - but no singing card. Her shopping trip had come early, a matter of convenience because we happened to be in Kelowna a couple of weeks before her real birthday. When Mollen's real birthday rolled around, a curious, kind of fatter than your average birthday envelope arrived in the mail. Mollen, being the enthusiastic kid that she is, tore into it - in that moment forgetting her most dearest wish for a birthday gift. As she opened the Disney card, a voice started to sing, "Happy Birthday, Princess..."
i drank in that look on her face.
Sheer joy.
i swear, if that sweet, pleased, semi-shocked smile were food, none of us would have had to eat for a month.
She changed into a princess dress. She had the whole song memorized by bedtime. We *all* probably had that song memorized by bedtime.
As her birthday month of April has floated into May, that card is starting to get a little dog-eared. i noticed there are some dark smudges on the back... She has been making up her own, unique words to the Princess song... But, the card lives still.
Happy, Birthday Princess.

ps - i know it is our anniversary today... i will blog about Neil again in the near future. For now i will leave you with this:
Cairo: (examining the ingredients of her juice box) Dad, what's passionfruit??
Neil: It's what me & mom eat when you guys go to bed.

i love that man.