My 58th Birthday

2015 has been a very ripping year. Moving from Texas, and adjusting to new surroundings. Nevertheless, I thank God for this past year, and for the almost 9 months of life in the new found land of Ohio. While the snow was fun and I build my first snowman ever, I was fortunate to come at a very mild winter year. I do not think we experienced anything above a level one alert. The past years, I am told, have been full of level-two and level-three hard-winter seasons. Nevertheless, I have survived my first year of cold weather in Ohio. Spring is right around the corner, and our clocks will soon spring forward an hour this weekend. So I am very thankful for this day, March 11th. Another birthday for this old Avila.

Getting old is not such a bad thing. Getting old comes with some great benefits like becoming a grandfather “aka-gramps” that’s what Zion will call me. I get senior citizen lunches and dinners at a discount price. And young people let you get in line ahead of them because you are so old. Going to the doctor is also a benefit for an old man like me and easier. When the doctor ask for a urine and stool sample, I just give him my underwear. While it is not such a bad thing to get older, it does come with its challenges like wrinkles, sore knees, baldness, an itch between your cheeks which you can’t scratch, and breast from aging. More challenging yet is the interior body changing. Some days I have trouble controlling my gas. While in the store the dogs started barking and I cannot control their barking, sooner or later a jail break occurs and one escapes. Yes it has been a ripping year. There are times I forget my eye glasses and make silly mistakes like getting into a van I thought was ours, it was similar – but wrong car, or pulling money from checking instead of savings. The other day my adopted daughter said something to me, I had to ask her again what it was she said. I thought she had said “I lost my s**t!” what she really said “I lost my shoe!” Like my daddy use to say “el sordo no oye pero componer.” “The deaf does not hear but will compose.” The good news is, I am no longer falling down our stairs, or tripping on my own feet. It is all good, and all is well on this my 58th birthday – hanging out with the greatest grandson ever; Zion. I love him to the moon and back.

So thank you God for all these years you have given me. For the mountains as well as the valleys. For children and grandchildren. But especially for your endless love, mercy, and grace upon this old man’s brokenness. You alone deserve all the honor, glory, and praise. Without You I am nothing. And I can do nothing without You Oh Lord! Soli Deo Gloria.