It seems like every year, I find it harder to accept that Lily is getting older. This year, is no exception. I am shocked and a little bit in denial that she is now nine years old. I remember being nine. I remember being nine with the same voice of memory as I have for remembering 20. It's not like my memories of being 3 or 4, those are foggier and could almost be the memories of somebody else. My memories from nine are mine. Now, She's nine. Wow.
Lily had a sweet little party over the weekend. It was all her idea. She has a beautiful heart full of love and kindness and she wanted to celebrate her birthday in the most loving way she could think of. As you may or may not know, Lily LOVES animals. Especially dogs. Much to her dismay, we don't have a dog. However, our wonderful neighbors do, so she does have little happy dogs to love (we also have guinea pigs, but that's another post...). For Lily's party, she wanted to do something to help the homeless animals in Austin. Short of adopting one (not happening!) I wasn't sure what we could do.
After some internet searching, I found that the Austin Humane Society has a program for children. It's called Humane Heroes. Humane Heroes provides children under 13 with ways that they can help out the shelter animals and contribute. It's not safe for small children to handle, walk or clean the shelter dogs and cats because sometimes the animals and children can be unpredictable. For safety reasons, volunteers must be at least 13. However, the shelter animals have a lot of needs and there are lots of things smaller children can do.
My contact at the Austin Humane Society said they were in need of rice socks. She sent me the directions. Essentially, we filled new men's tube socks with uncooked rice and tied the end. Then we sewed a fleece bag with a Velcro closure to put the sock in. At the shelter, they can heat up the rice socks and give them to animals after they've had surgery to help keep them warm and comfortable. At Lily's party, the girls made 28 rice socks. They used my old sewing machine and did an awesome job!
Lily asked her friends not to bring her a gift. Instead, she asked for a donation to the Austin Humane Society and included their wish list with the invitation. We filled an IKEA bag with goodies that the shelter needs. With that donation and the 28 rice socks, we had a big donation! Scott and I took the girls up to the shelter to give the donation and we got a tour of the facility. It was very informative. We learned how and why the animals are there. We learned about the services that the shelter provides and we even got to pet some cats and talk to the dogs in the kennel.
I'm so proud of my sweet Lily. I thought it was a beautiful way to celebrate her birthday. Watching her give love in her own way helps me to cope with her getting older. I am terribly sad to see my baby girl slipping away. However, it is beautiful to see her figure out who she is and what she loves and how she is going to give her love. I love the person she is growing into and I can't wait to see more.
