photo courtesy of Brad DyeG’s famous chocolate chip pound cake with Italian cream icing.  I dreamed it up and she made it happen. It has become, hands down, my all-time favorite birthday cake. I guess it’s an only child thing.

Perhaps it’s because I have recently started reading David Copperfield, but I seem to have Charles Dickens on the brain as of late. With that in mind, I didn’t think it strange that Easter Sunday I found myself thinking of “A Christmas Carol.”

Actually, in full disclosure and although it doesn’t make me sound nearly as scholarly, I found myself thinking of “The Muppet Christmas Carol” version of the Dickens’ classic and what Kermit the Frog’s character, Bob Cratchit, had to say about life.

In the movie, which is a Christmas favorite of our family’s, Cratchit says, “Life is made up of meetings and partings. That is the way of it.” I was thinking about the quote in relation to the upcoming week and the intersection of meetings and partings for our family.

Thanks to my recent air travel and the nice young man that was sitting beside me sniffling and sneezing in seat A14 on the flight from Atlanta to Jackson a week ago, I spent the end of last week and the weekend in “recovery.”

I pushed through most of the week, but by Thursday it was time to head to the clinic for some relief. A shot, a few prescriptions, and a couple of days’ rest, and I was on the mend. However, when Sunday came around, I still sounded rough, and since I didn’t want to risk giving whatever it was that I had to someone on the church pew next to me, I opted to stay at home while G went to Easter services with Tate.

That’s the short version. The longer version is that we made the trip down from the farm to Meridian to spend Easter with Tate because she is leaving this week for her new home in Virginia Beach, VA. Needless to say, she has been busy packing for the move.

To add to the craziness of readying for a move, Tate’s dog Poppy got into something and was having stomach issues. Tate took her in for an emergency vet visit that morning, but she was clearly still not feeling well when we arrived.

Truthfully, I was still wiped out myself, so I stayed in with Poppy while the rest of the family headed to worship. I can’t remember the last time that I wasn’t in church on Easter, but Sunday morning I was right where I needed to be.

Alone in the quiet solitude of the bedroom with Poppy resting beside me, I did a lot of praying, praising, and thanking God. It was a wonderful reminder of just where God can be found, if we will only seek Him.

As a side note, I will say that as I scrolled through social media later Sunday afternoon perusing the endless stream of posts of everyone in their finest Easter frock, I was tempted to post a pic of me and my granddog. Fortunately, I resisted that urge as neither of us felt (or looked) really postworthy.

After G and Tate returned from church, we left a groggy Poppy snoozing on Tate’s bed while we joined the rest of the family for Easter brunch. As we sat around ZZ and Pawpaw’s table enjoying the meal and the wonderful blessing of family, I was reminded of the meetings and partings quote.

Wednesday, Tate would be leaving for Virginia, and the thought of that brought to mind pictures of a little girl with an Easter basket filled with plastic eggs, a little girl that said “con-dee” instead of candy. Where had that little girl gone?

G and I had both been on the “struggle bus” for a while thinking about the reality of the parting that was now almost upon us. Fortunately, Wednesday would also be a day of “meetings” as that night Dan would be flying in from Wyoming.

He was going to miss getting to see Tate by a matter of hours, and while we were sad about that, we also knew that his visit was going to be just the balm for his needy parents who would be lamenting over the absence of his sister.

Wednesday would also be my birthday. As an only child, I’ve always had very specific requests when it came to my birthday. My mom always made me whatever cake I wanted. Growing up, that was usually angel food cake with frosting that varied from year to year.

G took on the birthday cake challenge when she took me on in marriage, and my all-time favorite birthday cake is now her chocolate chip pound cake with Italian cream icing. It is amazing!

As G can attest, I’m also pretty particular about my birthday presents. I think I have overcome the typical only child tendencies, but everyone has their shortcomings and birthdays are probably mine.

This year, all that I’m really asking for is time, time to spend with Tate before she leaves, time (and healing) for Poppy who ended up requiring surgery to remove something that she swallowed, time to get in a turkey hunt with Dan while he’s home, and time to celebrate with family and friends.

Just time. Well, that and a chocolate chip pound cake with Italian cream icing. Until next time, here’s to spending time with those who matter most.

Email outdoors columnist Brad Dye at braddye@comcast.net.