Happy birthday Aunt Charlene!

Charlene, me, and my mom

I am so glad I have this opportunity to tell my Aunt Charlene Happy Birthday--she just turned 70! Her kids had a big celebration for her up in Utah yesterday, but I wasn't able to attend. They put together a little scrapbook of memories as a special gift and I wanted to share a little bit of what I wrote to her. I just love my Aunt Charlene, and I have great memories from times we spent together. I loved going to her house to spend a month every summer as I was growing up. It was great having her family live up the street when I was in high school. I remember going over to her house every day after school. Having all those cousins around helped me feel like I had brothers and sisters.

One of my favorite memories of her is when I saw her sitting at the piano, with a pencil behind her ear, as she wrote a song. I love that she wrote a song—just for me—for my wedding. She is so extremely talented in music, and I have always been so proud of her music accomplishments. I get a big smile on my face every time I sing “zip-a-dee-ay and heigh-dee-ho.” (One of the reasons why I love this song is because she wrote it!! Aren't you all impressed now!?) I love that I got to sing with her recently and hear our voices blend, even though it was a sad time for all.

She is one of the kindest, sweetest people I know. Even though she always has a million people around her, she always makes sure I get individual attention from her. I know that she loves me and my family, and we love her.

I can’t think of a more appropriate thing to “sing” right now than:

“This month is such a special one; it’s birthday time for you.
We’d really like to celebrate your happy day with you.
Zip-a-dee-ay and heigh-dee-ho, here’s something we can do.
We’ll sing a song that we all know, Happy Birthday to you!”

Charlene is holding my mom