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<\/a>Stephanie, Dana and Kristin<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n My brother has a backyard that should be the envy of every tropical resort<\/strong> in Hawaii.\u00a0 No further proof is needed when you see his new profile picture on Facebook.\u00a0 There he is, sitting under his palapa, amid lush greenery,\u00a0holding a drink that has an umbrella on it.\u00a0 Perfection!\u00a0 I know that he and his family enjoy their back yard immensely (and why wouldn’t they?!) but last weekend I had the pleasure of attending a baby shower there that was, by far, the best celebration<\/strong> I’ve attended in the “Sparrow Tropical Gardens”.\u00a0 Bob’s daughter, Dana, is eight months pregnant with her first child.\u00a0 For those of you regular readers, you may recall that Dana is the one that has had multiple heart surgeries<\/strong>.\u00a0 Three, to be precise.\u00a0 So this baby was not easily come by and is all the more precious for it.\u00a0\u00a0 Last weekend Bob’s other daughter, Stephanie, and their best friend Kristin, hosted a baby shower<\/strong> for Dana and turned that verdant backyard into a pink, white and gray elephant-themed wonderland that should be\u00a0on Pinterest.\u00a0\u00a0 The theme for the baby’s room is elephants.\u00a0I didn’t realize that elephants were so popular until I went shopping and discovered that they are a thing<\/em>.\u00a0 There are elephant diaper bins, pacifiers, wash cloths, murals and pretty much everything else imaginable. \u00a0In my opinion, the best elephant in the room<\/strong> last weekend was the cake, a magnificent confection of fondant and icing. \u00a0It was truly a work of art and I worried that no one would want to cut into it. \u00a0But luckily Stephanie is \u00a0a girl after my own heart, who knows that good cake always takes precedence over art, as she sliced right through it.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The Elephant Cake<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n There is something about baby showers that is so positive and up-lifting.\u00a0 Not that wedding showers aren’t also full of hope, but I have the say the last one I attended had a group of women off to the side taking the over\/under<\/strong> on how long the marriage would last.\u00a0 Babies, though, are their own little miracles so we are all very excited about the new baby girl that will be here in a few weeks.\u00a0\u00a0 I love these family events, especially because we don’t get together all that often.\u00a0 Certainly not as much as we’d like.\u00a0 I loved watching Stephanie\u00a0prepare everything with so much detail<\/strong> and Dana laugh and have fun with each\u00a0of her guests.\u00a0 It seems like just yesterday that we were celebrating them<\/em> coming into the world.\u00a0 How did they get older when I didn’t?!\u00a0 The whole event was spectacular, and true to form, I celebrated by eating TWO pieces of the elephant cake.\u00a0 Just to be polite, of course.<\/p>\n I suppose every family enjoys these milestone rituals, where we all stop to take stock<\/strong> of where we are in the circle of life.\u00a0 Which brings me to the other elephant in the room – the realization that my brothers and I are now at the top of the heap, generationally speaking.\u00a0 I’ve heard people describe this as\u00a0being in the family “penthouse”<\/strong> or at the top of the escalator.\u00a0 No matter how it’s described, being the oldest generation brings with it lots of memories and a great deal more sentimentality. \u00a0So between my heightened status and all of the comments I received last week\u00a0about getting rid of things, I had a revelation. \u00a0It dawned on me that I would be seeing all three of Bob’s \u00a0children over the weekend. \u00a0I thought about the family heirloom jewelry sitting in my safe deposit box<\/strong>, earmarked for them upon my death.\u00a0 How silly!\u00a0 Why wait until I’m gone to pass these things along?\u00a0 So I traipsed down to the bank, pulled it all out, and then wrote each of them a letter about the provenance of each piece, the oldest dating back to 1892<\/strong> and the newest to the 70’s.\u00a0 So once the shower was over and it was just family and a few very close family friends, I read each of them the letter as I gave them their pieces.\u00a0 Although there was not great monetary value to any of them, the sentimental factor was very high and they all appreciated knowing “the rest of the story”<\/strong> behind each one.\u00a0 On the flight home I felt such a sense of peace – seeing their reactions to receiving these family touchstones was a highlight of my life. \u00a0Their tears and smiles made a lasting memory that I will treasure forever.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Suzanne Sparrow Watson My brother has a backyard that should be the envy of every tropical resort in Hawaii.\u00a0 No further proof is needed when you see his new profile picture on Facebook.\u00a0 There he is, sitting under his … read more![\"\"](\"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/The-elephant-300x225.jpg\")
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