The "SXM: A Happy Birthday To My Wife" Story

It was an ordinary day.  For me that was, but for my lovely wife, it was her birthday.  I had made special arrangements with Crystal, owner of Le Piment Restaurant, for a special celebration for Carol.  A few days before I stopped to gas up the car and found the small store at the gas station had birthday candles with plastic numbers included.  Bought a pack and dropped them with Crystal on my way home.  Told her to make sure she used the correct numbers in the pack and not the 8 and 9 that were on top of the stack.  Dinner went well that evening with Carol having her favorite Beef Stew with potatoes, salad and peach tea.  When dessert arrived, she had a big smile on her face when she saw the flaming candle and her age shown on the scoop of ice ceam.  

Carol on her recent birthday.

 I must admit that she told me later she just knew that I was going to do something like that.  Did much the same thing in St. Martin years before when I asked a waiter a few days before her birthday if they had birthday cakes available and he told me "NO", but he would have his wife bake one and bring it the night of her birthday.  Wow!  And, he did...and the entire restaurant sang "Happy Birthday" to her...in French!!  So, she just knew something was coming.  Both of us have celebrated many birthdays in our lives and for most of those birthdays we have been blessed with the blowing out of the candles.  So what's so special about the birthday candles that adorn the cake, which to me is the best part of the whole celebration.  Candles were said to have started in Ancient Greece when people bought cakes adorned with lit candles to the temple of Artemis, goddess of the hunt.  The candles were lit to make them glow like the moon, a popular symbol associated with Artemis.  Now, if you ask the Germans, they will tell you that the tradition of birthday candles began in 1746 when Count Ludwig Von Zinzindorf celebrated his birthday with an extravagant festival.  Naturally there had to be a big cake with candles on it.  The Germans also celebrated with birthday candles during Kinderfest which was a celebration for children in the 1700's.  A single candle was lit and placed on the cake to symbolize the "light of life".  But, why do we blow out the candles?  Some believe that the smoke from the blown-out candles carried their wishes and prayers to gods who lived in the skies.  Others believed the smoke helped to ward off evil spirits.  There are still many people today who hold superstitious beliefs about blowing out birthday candles.  Some believe that if you make a wish before blowing out the candles and if all the candles are blown out in one breath, your wish will come true.  Easy for many who are younger, but for myself and Carol...well that's a lot of candles to blow out in one breath.  Carol has had many memorable birthday's over the years, but her birthday in 2016 was perhaps her most memorable.  

The waitstaff at Ocean Club Resort in Turks & Caicos
sing Happy Birthday to Carol just after she returned
 to the resort from the hospital. 

 She spent it in the hospital on the island of Turks & Caicos having her appendix removed.  While she was being prepped for surgery she told the nurses that it was her birthday and they all sang "Happy Birthday" to her.  Only thing missing was the birthday cake with candles!  I'm sorry to say that the cake and candles had to wait a few more days until she returned to the resort where we were staying and had the chance to celebrate in better fashion.  And then there was the year that our friends, Jere and Just Sue, were visiting the island of St. Thomas with us and we celebrated Carol's birthday at a little restaurant along the ocean.  Just so happened there was another girl who was celebrating her birthday at the same time.  We had some entertainment when a young man spread out quite a few bottles on the floor, crushed all of them and danced on top of the broken glass.  Then the "Moko Jumbie" dancers, who dance on 12 foot high stilts, put on a performance.  It was now time for the two birthday girls to dance...together!  The other young woman had been a captain in the army.  Interesting couple of minutes as she and Carol did a dance together.  Fun evening.  Tonight's party was conservative compared to others in her life.  But, we still had a great time!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.