I REACHED A MILESTONE birthday recently. I didn’t celebrate in any big way. Birthdays have become for me almost like any other day. Yet, my closest loved ones assured that I would experience some memorable moments.
Let’s start with the morning of my birthday. Randy, per my “I would like a caramel roll for breakfast” word drop the evening prior, delivered on that. He also picked up the loveliest mixed bouquet of dahlias and other flowers from the Faribault Farmers’ Market. My birthday was off to a great start.
The rest of the day was low key with grocery shopping, protesting (I could have done without the obscene words shouted at us and the vehicles threatening our safety), a library visit, a walk between rain showers and then, for supper, take-out from The Twisted Chicken. The owner, when I told him my new age, proclaimed that no way did I look fill in the blank here. He even asked an employee to guess my age. Her answer of 55 was way off. I laughed. Whether they were messing with me or not doesn’t matter. They made me feel good.
Video chats with my second daughter and the 20-month-old grandson in eastern Wisconsin and another with my son and his girlfriend in Boston added to my birthday happiness. Above anything, I want to connect with family on my birthday.
Earlier in the week, the Boston couple sent me a birthday card handcrafted in Vietnam. It features a clutch of reddish orange flowers created by rolling and gluing strips of kishu paper into a design via the art of quilling. This card, representing resilience, hope and the power of creativity, as noted on the back, will soon be displayed as art in my home. I love the piece and the from-the-heart messages the two wrote inside.
My family knows me well and how much I appreciate the arts. And cards. When my birthday card arrived from Wisconsin, it included abstract art by my toddler grandson. That immediately went on the front of my fridge.
Not to be outdone by their much younger cousin, my other two grandkids, ages seven and ten, gave an impromptu concert the following day for Randy and me. Surprisingly, it did not include the Happy Birthday song, but rather a short song the granddaughter wrote and then songs her younger brother is playing as he starts piano lessons. I couldn’t have asked for a more enjoyable concert.
The music followed my biggest birthday adventure, joining my eldest daughter and her family at Escapology in Burnsville where we tried to find a missing treasure in the game “Lost City.” We did an escape room several months ago at Copper Cat Escape Games in Brainerd and enjoyed it immensely. So we thought we’d try again. Although we found the treasure and escaped the room in Burnsville with several minutes to spare, it was not easy. We needed help along the way. I also struggled to see in the dimly-lit rooms. And all of us struggled to decipher markings. This experience won’t dissuade me from doing an escape room again though.
I joked with the Escapology game master that the treasure chest should have held chocolate coins. I expect my daughter was thinking, “I’m sure glad I got Mom a bag of dark chocolate sea salt caramel candy.” That’s exactly the sweet treat I found along with a handful of family photos when I opened a gift bag afterwards at her house.
We gathered in the kitchen for my favorite dessert, cheesecake, among festive birthday decorations. I even had candles on my slice of turtle cheesecake as my family sang “Happy birthday!”
Family and friends, via cards, texts, video chats, art, music, flowers, treats and an escape room adventure, made this milestone birthday memorable. I felt, and still feel, incredibly loved.
© Copyright 2026 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
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