As you may have realized, our family celebrates a lot of birthdays this time of year.

Today we celebrated our son Mike’s birthday. He is the oldest of our two sons. He is a kind soul, an awesome son, husband and father.

Mike was born on Holy Thursday 38 years ago. His birth was truly a miracle for his Dad and I. We had a difficult time conceiving him. One day after confiding to my Mom, she suggested I begin a Novena to St. Theresa. She told me that if my prayer was to be answered I would receive a rose.

I began the Novena several days later. I told no one about it, not even my husband. A short time after I completed the Novena, a young girl whom neither my husband nor I knew came skipping down our sidewalk. She had a rose in her hand and tossed it in our yard. My husband picked up the rose and brought it to me. He asked me if I knew who the girl was. We hadn’t recognized her as being one of the neighborhood children.

A few weeks later we learned that we were expecting! It was a joyous but scary time. Being pregnant thirty-eight years ago with diabetes was a little complicated. I had several hospital visits due to highs and lows. Fortunately I was blessed with great doctors who followed me closely and were proactive with my care.

Six weeks prior to my May due date, I was admitted back into the hospital. It was getting harder to control my blood sugar. The c-section was scheduled the day after I was admitted. We had a healthy baby boy and I suffered no further complications.

The fact that our son was born during Holy Week spoke volumes to me. I still pray to St. Theresa every day. Our son was a gift from God and a true blessing to us. He was the start of our beautiful family. Happy Birthday Son!