When April rolls around, I am busy sending out birthday wishes. There are 10 birthdays in my family during April.

All of them are special, but one is a little more remarkable than the others to me. If all goes well, a special day will happen April 18.

That is when my grandson, Simon Andrew Cecil, will turn 10 years old.

This in itself is remarkable. Every year we rejoice and realize how blessed we are.

Having been born with a severe dysphasia of dwarfism and many health problems, Simon is the hero in our family. As many of you know, Simon requires 24-hour attention. He is so blessed to have a wonderful mom and dad to shoulder the responsibilities of Simon and give him the love he so desperately needs.

It seems God has sent his angels to surround Simon wherever he is. Though he has gone through many surgeries and much pain in his life, he seems to appreciate the kindness of others. He has been blessed with nurses who have adored him and teachers at school who are wonderful.

Of course, Simon requires work wherever he is. His birthday will not have little kids over for a party nor will he ever be able to have little boys over for a sleepover. He will never be able to go outside and run and play with other kids and this makes me very sad.

However, for some reason, because of the joy Simon brings to me, I can never dwell or stay sad for very long.

Our joy with him is felt each time we get a wet little kiss on the cheek. Getting a beautiful smile from him could make anyone happy. The one thing that melts me with him is when he pats me on the back when I hold him close — his way of giving me the love he feels for me.

Listening to Simon say, “Eat, eat,” the only word he has mastered. Funny, because I think that trait came from my side of the family.

His love for Elmo still makes Simon happy and his favorite pastime, other than eating, is watching an Elmo movie. Mom keeps an eye on both making sure Simon eats healthy and doesn’t watch too much television. Sometime television wins on fussy days.

My granddaughter Stephenie, whose birthday is also in April, will be turning 22. It seems only yesterday she had little curls and was running around the house wanting to play hide and seek.

Where does time go? I plan to have lunch with her tomorrow. She will soon  graduate from the University of Kentucky. She is getting to see what it is like to be in a room of special needs children as she does her student teaching this semester.

I am so proud of her and what she will be able to give back to the world. Her students will have a beautiful teacher to give out homework when she gets to her own classroom and I am hoping it will make them work hard to please her. I also hope she will always be a good teacher and hold the job of teaching to high esteem.

It is so important to have good teachers, especially in today’s world. It always makes me smile when I hear people talk about my sister, who has been a teacher all her life, and tell about the difference she made in their lives. She was probably one of my earliest teachers since she is five years older than me.

My four nieces have birthdays this month along with my two sisters-in-law, my youngest brother and my only sister. 

I wish each of them a happy birthday.

Each one of them means so much to me and are an important part of my life.

Every year as we are aging, we are a little more thankful. Somewhere along the way, our age has crept up on us and it makes us welcome a new birthday instead of dreading it.

Family is important to me and I know your families are important to you also. It is meant to be that way. We should never lose sight of that we were given one another for a reason I am sure.

I hope your days are happy ones too.

Sue Staton is a Clark County native who grew up in the Kiddville area. She is a wife, mother and grandmother who is active in her church, First United Methodist Church, and her homemakers group, Towne and Country Homemakers.