Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Birthday Law

It has been a good birthday so far.  And I define the "good" part as being quiet with everyone in the family doing well.  Tonight C. is cooking portobello stroganoff.  It is a meal that goes back a long way in terms of birthdays and our marriage.

With birthday law ruling the day,  I got to choose what I wanted to do.  So I worked out this morning, then went to the boat, dropped off the binnacle cover to be embroidered with the name of the boat, and began installing my birthday present--a depth reader that ties into the Garmin chart plotter.

Birthday law will remain in effect through tomorrow at which time we'll go to lunch and a movie.  I'm not sure what movie we'll see.  Probably it will be the screen adaptation of John Le Carre's Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.  We both thought the preview of it looked intriguing.

The meeting last night was good.  There was a lot of laughter, something that I didn't know how to do when I first went to a meeting.  I was so serious that it probably took me a year to see the humor in so much of what happens in life.  Even looking back on the alcoholic escapades make us both laugh now.  At the time, nothing was funny about any of it.

Last night, the lady telling her story talked about completely ignoring the red flags when she met her husband.  I think that is so characteristic of us Al-Anons.  We think that somehow we can love someone enough to make them change.  So why worry about alcoholic antics when we can make them go away? I can tell you that I was bested at every maneuver.  Love became just a four letter word.  And thankfully, we were able to turn the whole thing around to get where we are today.  It is possible to rebuild that which is wrecked and broken.

No longer terrified, we will discover we are free to delight in life’s paradox, mystery, and awe.  We will laugh more.  ~ from Survival to Recovery

32 comments:

  1. happy birthday! and many happy returns.

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  2. ♪♪Happy Birthday to you,♪♪
    ♪♪Happy Birthday to you,♪♪
    ♪♪Happy Birthday Dear SYD,♪♪
    ♪♪Happy Birthday to you.♪♪

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  3. Happy Birthday Syd! I hope you and C have a wonderful day together celebrating it!

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  4. Happy Birthday, Syd! Doesn't 39 feel great...:)

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  5. I'm glad the birthday law is working for you. I love laughing at the alcoholic antics, but not in front of my alcoholic. I'm just not comfortable with it. Sometimes it reminds me of the "not so funny" stuff. I don't like remembering those things.
    Happy Birthday and keep laughing. :)

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  6. Happy Birthday Syd.
    Another lovely post. Really pleased you're having a good time of it all . . . You so deserve it.

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  7. Happy birthday and best wishes to you, Syd!

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  8. Happy Birthday, my fellow Capricorn :-)

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  9. Happy birthday Syd. 39? Syd is surely not a day over 29!

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  10. Happy Birthday Syd! I like to laugh and I seem to do more of it these days, thankfully!

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  11. happy birthday man...glad you are having a great day..birthday law, ha i need to invoke that...

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  12. Happy Birthday Syd.

    Birthday law really sounds good. Maybe Congress could agree to enact that law.

    Nah, I don't think they even agree on that.

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  13. Honey, anything that makes us laugh more is Holy in my book.
    Happy birthday. I am seriously glad you were born.

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  14. Happy Birthday Syd! I love that at our house we celebrate a double-birthday at our house. Our son was thirteen today; my husband sits across from his birthday present at our dining room table.

    And you celebrate a life worthy of much appreciation. So glad for your and C's "recovered" life TOGETHER.

    After the steady climb up the slippery slope, there is hope.

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  15. Happy Birthday Syd. I vote for having your own way for an entire birthday week.

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  16. Yum yum, portabello mushroom stroganoff!

    Syd, that ability to laugh at what once caused us misery and humiliation is so important. Happy birthday!

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  17. "Birthday law" diggin' it!

    Enjoy your special day, with your special lady, in your special life.

    Happy Birthday Syd!

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  18. Happy birthday Syd. I love the concept of "Birthday law."

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  19. Happy Birthday!!! A strong marriage that survives turmoil is a fantastic gift, and you don't need to unwrap it just one day a year.

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  20. Happy Birthday to my dear friend Syd! I hope all of your days are wonderful.

    (and I want to know how Mike Golch got those music notes!!!)

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  21. Happy Birthday, Syd!

    Wishing you many, many more.

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  22. •°*”˜˜”*°•.¸☆ ★ ☆¸.•°*”˜˜”*°•.¸☆
    ╔╗╔╦══╦═╦═╦╗╔╗ ★ ★ ★
    ║╚╝║══║═║═║╚╝║ ☆¸.•°*”˜˜”*°•.¸☆
    ║╔╗║╔╗║╔╣╔╩╗╔╝ ★ BIRTHDAY SYD ☆
    ╚╝╚╩╝╚╩╝╚╝═╚╝ ¥☆★☆★☆¥ ★☆
    I love "birthday law" - and for 2 days, no less??? Awesome!
    Also loved reading about laughter and how you had to kind of "re-learn" it... so good.
    I was also impacted in reading about the woman ignoring the red flags - ugh - all too familiar...

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  23. Happy Birthday..Hope the day unfolds for you in a wonderful way.

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  24. Happy Birthday, Syd - I like the sound of "birthday law." Learning to laugh at myself, and the insanity, has been a gift.

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  25. Happy Birthday my friend! Enjoy birthday law!

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  26. ♪♪Happy Birthday to you♪♪
    ♪♪Happy Birthday to you♪♪
    ♪♪Happy Birthday dear Syd♪♪
    ♪♪Happy Birthday to you♪♪
    ♪♪...and many more♪♪
    ♪♪...on blogger.com♪♪

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  27. Hope you had a great birthday, Syd! I love birthday law!

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  28. So glad you had a happy birthday. So glad that after all you and your wife went through you were able to put it all back together. So nice to read a little about that.

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  29. The best part is that laughter. It takes years off a person's face, and heart.

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  30. a very belated, but sincere, happy birthday syd. you are an inspiring man and I am glad you were born.

    ;0)

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  31. Happy belated Birthday!!! It sounds like it was a great day. :)

    I like that saying, "birthday law". My sister and I usually say we are having our birthday month! ;)

    Thank you for the hope and honesty in your words. I also enjoy the laughter at our meetings, it's a good feeling and fills me with strength from the energy of the group.

    I was that person, I was going to fix my husband with love. **sigh** doesn't work and yes that ship is damaged, but still tethered to the dock bobbing in the water. I have hope for that boat and it will sail again.

    Beautiful quote. Thank you.

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