One of the more memorable moments from my childhood took place on the morning of my sixth birthday.
I woke up in bed and through bleary eyes saw many colored things floating around the room. As my eyes came into focus, I saw that they were cut-outs of various colored construction paper. They were all hanging from the ceiling by thread. Each one was the number “6”.
I remember loving this so much that I insisted that my mom save them in the basement for my 9th birthday. She placed them on a shelf in the basement. I have a vivid memory of both the hanging numbers and the shelf with the stack of numbers waiting for 3 years to go by.
Today is Abby’s sixth birthday. I wanted her to have the same surprise that I did, but I almost forgot to do it. I had told Berta about my plan to do this for Abby, and I heard her puttering around the kitchen last night at 2am, cutting out giant 6’s and taping them via thread to hang from the kitchen doorway. She wasn’t sure about hanging them above Abby’s bed, but thought she would be sure to notice them in the kitchen doorway.
I worked so late last night that I slept through seeing her reaction to the 6’s this morning. I’ll have to ask her this evening. I really hope she loved the idea.
I wish Abby a great sixth birthday, and hope that she holds on to all of the wonder in her world as I remember having on my own sixth birthday.
