Tim turned 55 yesterday. Like many people, our family tradition at birthdays is to sing “Happy Birthday,” but unlike other families, we have a second verse – “May the Dear Lord bless you, may the dear Lord bless you, may the dear Lord bless Tim, may the dear Lord bless you.”

At Valparaiso University, we sing that second verse in the College of Arts and Sciences Deans’ offices. I’m not sure if Jon, Yvonne, Anna, Luci, Catherine, Rasha, and Shelby sing it when I miss a cake sharing day, but when I’m there, we groan it out.

And for some reason, it chokes me up.

It’s a lot to sing about the beautiful hope that God bestows blessings on someone standing right in front of you. It’s easier to make such requests when the recipient isn’t around and isn’t the center of attention of an entire group. Being the singer and the receiver can be a bit overwhelming. Standing up and telling your age, your age, is much easier as is being the old gray mare who ain’t what he used to be.

Last night during our birthday Facetime with our two-year-old granddaughter Eileen, Eileen was too busy doing her own version of a gymnastics show to sing to Baka – her name for Grandpa. Don’t ask. We don’t know why she calls him that.  I tried to coach Eileen to tuck her chin out of fear that she’d break her neck doing those somersaults. Believe me, I’ve been close. Eileen then decided she was going to make Baka a birthday meal. She went to her toy kitchen, pretended to prepare strawberry pancakes, walked her empty hands laden with invisible treats to Katie’s iPhone, and served them up on the couch. Multiple courses were served along with milk and oranges. It was all we could do not to pretend to eat the food with our hands two states away.

Later, Katie sent a video of Eileen singing both verses of “Happy Birthday” to Baka. Shyly, she sang, often with her hand in her mouth, and when she got to the second verse, the crystal clear prayer came through. Tim watched the video over and over through misty eyes – such sweetness to savor. She really is so darn cute.

I heard my phone ding and walked over to read this text from Tim to the kids and me:

So grateful for every day I get to be with all of you. You are all what I live for.