There is a lot of sadness in the world today. So today for a contest, I’d love if you can share a favorite birthday memory or favorite memory where you helped someone in need. Let’s remember the good and happy today!
I’m going to give another audible code away for Cookies for Courting, and as always an ebook of Amber’s can be exchanged. 🙂
So let’s spread some happiness today!
Amber Kell's Blog 
A Favorite Birthday??? I would have to say it was the year my hubby brought home the most adorable puppy. She was a German Shorthair Pointer and we named her Keara… Hence my screen name and email.
A favorite birthday my husband got me two golden retrievers , that my father was going to get me for my 16 th birthday. He was killed five months before my birthday. I told my husband when we first meant. Never thinking he would get me a puppy, I thought my dream died with my father. He got me not one but two!! Today I raise goldendoodles for autistic children,and for wounded warriors. I want to help children with no voice or warriors who fought for our freedom s who now need a hand or in this case a paw.
I am happily remembering my green birthday, otherwise known as my 5th. That would have been in 1952. Green was just a color then and it was and still is my favorite. I had green cake and green ice cream, yummy. I also got a green dress. Oh, how I loved that dress with the twirly skirt and big green bow in back. I wanted to wear it all day every day. I think I will buy myself something green for my birthday next week. Not a dress, cannot imagine this old broad in a twirly skirt with a big bow over my big butt, feel free to snicker over that image.
I guess mine is pretty simple. It wasn’t my birthday, but I was at my local drugstore when a lady walked in, completely confused and hurried. Turns out she had an important job interview, after having been unemployed for very long. She accidentally got off at the wrong busstop (at the other end of town!). She was at the verge of breaking down, as she would never get there in time. The interview was in like 10 minutes from then, or something. And it was at least a 30 or 45 minute walk. So I offered to drive her. We made it just in time, and she was very happy. I was just happy to help. This was very simple and small, but I enjoyed it. 🙂
One of my fav birthday memories isn’t one if my birthdays. I work at a hotel and earlier this year I was putting some extra towels in a room when the young boy staying told me how it was his birthday and that he was in the Uk to watch the Rugby World cup. He was telling me all about his team and how worried he was they wouldn’t win. Luckily the team were staying in my hotel and I arranged for the boy to go to our VIP area and meet the team. He was so excited and kept running to were I was standing, hugged my legs and thanked me over and over. I was smiling for weeks at how happy I made this little boy.
A poor lady I knew was desperately trying to get enough money to send her kid to camp, so I slipped $100 in her mailbox saying “for the kid.” I never dared ask if her kid had fun as I wanted to remain anonymous.
It was my birthday and I was going to treat myself to a yummy italian lunch, then I saw a young woman with her two munchkins in the rain at the bus stop. So I stopped, drove her to the store then stayed to take her home….best happy birthday in a long time 🙂
Bear with me, this starts sad but ends happy. Today (11/14) is the 32nd anniversary of my brother’s death (he was 26 and died in a car accident). My sister and I took my Mom out to dinner to one of his favorite places so we could talk about the happy memories – even though it was a long time ago – he has never really been gone. He was a big guy, full of life and will always be with us. So all in all a good day and good memories.
I was on a business trip on 9/11 and was trying to get home, but none of the airlines were flying. So, I decided to rent a car and drive home. A lady I met at the airport lived in the same state as I do, but could not afford to rent a car. So, I asked her if she wanted to ride with me. She needed a ride and I could use the company. It was a long drive (2.5 days of straight driving) but we both got home safely. I got to meet her husband and he was so grateful and sweet that I helped her get home. It was a small silver lining to an otherwise horrific period of time.
My best birthday was my seventh. Being a February baby I had always wanted a pool party but even while living in Florida that was never possible. But in 1994 my father (who was in the military) was transferred to Okinawa, Japan. And the family went with him. So when my birthday rolled around in 1995 I finally got my wish of having a pool party. February on a tropical island was wonderfully warm and I had the party I always wanted.
One of my favorite birthdays was the one the year before my daddy died he went and bought me a cake so we could celebrate. ❤️
Several of my friends got together and threw a surprise birthday party for me on my 49th birthday, because they said everyone does the big years, and I’d be expecting it for my 50th. So they did the 49th and caught me completely off guard. It was a fun party.
My most favorite birthday memory is the cake my grandmother always made me. It was a chocolate role that was covered with this sugary white frosting and then drizzled with bittersweet chocolate.
One day, as I was walking on a parking lot heading to a grocery store I did what I’ve always done, smile and said hello to a woman coming the opposite way, going into the parking lot. I said hello to her and she stopped. He eyes got big and watery and nearly cried. She said that her entire days had been crap and that I had just lightened it for her. She asked if she could hug me and I did.
A smile doesn’t cost anything and it could turn a life from despair into lightness and joy.
Smile, someone out there needs it.
taina1959 @ yahoo.com
Back when I was in college, I was a waitress. I worked a coffee shop that had regular customers. One set were an elderly couple. To be polite they were a pain in the ass. No one else would wait on them. So I decided to “kill them with kindness”. We got to be friends, so I always waited on them. Well for Christmas that year, I got a quarter ounce of Chanel No 5 perfume…yep the real deal. So kindness on my part got its own reward. A lesson I try to always keep in mind.
As you know I’m a truck driver I’ve seen and done a lot.
Some years ago I was in Oak Grove KY and there was this lady and her young toddler daughter stranded at the truck stop, out of fuel. My intuition kicked in and I filled her gas tank up and the five gallon gas can she had in her truck bed, And bought her daughter and her lunch, She was trying to get back to Omaha NE. To her home. I wished her luck and gave her the names of places to stop for safety areas.
Probably the most helpful thing I’ve ever done was giving two children a ride to school. It was February of ’14 and I was on my way to campus super early because I couldn’t sleep and decided to use the lab to get a head on my midterm project.
I stopped at a red light and I see two kids (10 and 12) huddled together in the bus booth on the corner. (It was maybe 10 degrees Fahrenheit.) I think about what I’d do if that were my nieces and pulled over.
I got out and asked if they were going to school and if they’d like a ride. They reluctantly said yes and got in.
I hiked the heat to full blast and asked where their gloves were and the young girl said “My dad keeps forgetting to get me some more.”
So I asked why he keeps forgetting and found that he was a single dad with cancer who still worked 8-10 hours at night. He also was too tired to drive them to school that morning.
I just about cried. Before I dropped them off I got their dads number and called him later that afternoon to offer to take them to school everyday and pick them up as well. Eventually I began to bring meals for them so he wouldn’t have to cook. Oh and my nieces got them both gloves.
He is in remission and one of my nieces now goes to the same school as his daughter.
(Hugs). You story made me cry. I hope he stays in remission and I am glad things are working out for everyone. What a great thing to do (many times) for a family in need.
Favorite birthday. Went on vacation with my husband and son to Lake Powell. I am not a holiday or birthday person, so just relaxing on the short and boating was great.
Favorite birthday: it was actually my hubby’s birthday but he spent the day with his friends and I got to meet some of my online friends in person that weekend.
While living in Korea I decided to learn to quilt, so I joined a quilting group on the base. We made quilts for all the new babies being born on the base. After a few months we had a surplus. We had heard about a Buddhist Temple that took care of children with developmental problems, down syndrome, autism, etc. They had about a dozen at that time that lived there. Our group wrapped the quilts and delivered them to these children. Watching their faces when they opened them and pulled out the quilts was amazing and something I will never forget.
For my 18th birthday, my folks finally let me get an electric guitar. A cool rocker gal friend of the family was in town, so she went with me to the music store to help me pick it out. Good times!
My second daughters first birthday is a favorite of mine. My two girls had a double birthday party and all my family was able to make.
My favorite birthday as a kid was when I was 14 and we (Dad, Mom, my brother and I) all went to Washington D.C. for a week when my dad had to attend a conference. My most recent helpful story was from last summer. I came across a woman with a flat tire, at night, in a borderline-sketchy area of town. I stopped to see if she needed any help or to call someone. It was still quite hot, probably in the 90s. I gave her a bottle of water and kept her company until roadside assistance came and fixed the flat, or put the spare on, whichever it was.
There was this elderly lady in this store that looked like she was lost and didn’t know what was happening. My sister and I saw her and went up to her to make sure she was okay. It turned out she wasn’t exactly sure where she was or where her family was. So my sister and I stayed with her, got the phone number of her family member and helped her call them. We stayed with her until someone came to get her.
i’ve always been happy to help anyone that needs it
and as for birthdays, I can’t think of anything great, but my sisters was on Saturday and we went and watch her and my mum do iFly and then went to a small restaurant (called Grilled) to have a late lunch, it was our family and it was really nice. tho I do love the family dinner this one was something a bit different and still amazing
My favorite birthday memory was when I turned 20. A couple of friends and I went shopping and made food for the homeless at a soup kitchen. I worked at that soup kitchen for four years after that. They always had a smile for me no matter what. At the end of the day I worked on my birthday, some of them had made me a crown out of pasta shells and a piece of cardboard
My favourite memory is this last birthday recently diagnosed as coeliac. My then 10 yr old daughter got my mum to buy the ingredients and then made me a wheat/gluten free Birthday cake. She had looked up the recipe online for it xxx
when we were 18, one friend of mine was going through a very bad time. that’s why we decided to organise a very big surprise birthday party for her…. Which was a complete success! She never suspected anything and we had a great time. At least she could forget about her problems for a while!
my best memory is when I gave my mom a kidney she got an additional 8 years before she pasted this year
Went to them snow for my daughters 18th then we all went to the Sunshine Coast for my daughter best friend who was living with us at the time for her 18th
Had a fast paced fire and a group from work went to a co-workers house to help evacuate her 60 plus cats, we had 5 houses that took cats, kittens. I had 2 in spare bedroom for a few days until the Monument Fire was contained.
Favorite birthday memory was when my Dad gave my Mom a suprise birthday party and me and my sister helped. She was so surprised (had no idea)!
One of my former students loved to play basketball. She did not like to do her school work. I won a Tshirt at a UCONN women’s game. I used it to bribe her to do her work.
I guess my Idea of helping someone is .. just that finding a funny way to deal with thing finding the humor in awful things and then the strength to get up and keep stepping forward. One step at a time.
a favorite memory would be one where I got my puppy who isn’t a puppy anymore but still my puppy in my eyes 🙂 A memory of when I helped someone would have to be when it was snowing out and someone got stuck in a snow drift. I pulled over and my brother and I helped get them unstuck. They tried to pay us for it but I said just pay it forward and I’ve been in that situation before myself
One of my favorite birthday memories is one of my grandmothers birthdays where the whole family got together and had a big cookout for her. It’s been many years and lot of the people that were their are gone now and I miss them a lot.
One of my happiest memories is going out for my mother’s birthday last year for brunch. It’s in November (just like Amber’s!) and always gets mixed up in the Thanksgiving madness, so it’s nice to be able to celebrate just her alone.
Putting together Christmas baskets for families we had been able to help for the season.
One of my favorite memories is from just a few years ago. My Brother and I are 4 years and 1 day apart, so we usually celebrated on the day inbetween our days. I met him at a bar he worked at part time, and all his friends threw him a surprise party. It was incredible. We had a fantastic time with friends and family. Good times. He’s in CA and I miss the heck out of him. Love you Amber!!
I’m not really one that enjoys celebrating her birthday, to me it is just another day but any birthday spent with family and friends is a great birthday memory.
My favorit birthday was celebrate mi first year of married with the personas who love more,is my complemento after 15year still love him like boyfriends
A very happy memory was an xmas one where almost the whole family was gathered. My cousin, great-aunt and brother were all around… when we still lived in one of my favorite houses that we lived in.. . anyways, my mom’s usual xmas tracks were playing and it was just so full of warmth and …joy. I don’t recall it too clearly, just the feeling of happiness and of how bright it was. I don’t remember how old I was either… but since it’s so blurry I think I was probably around 12-15 or so… but… it’s a very happy memory anyways.