On Birthdays

Today is my birthday. In our culture, we hold our birthdays in special esteem. We hold off on working hard, try to add a little more fun into our day and expect to be celebrated. Some people take off from work, others plan vacations, parties, special lunches etc.  We crave facebook posts and birthday cards and if we are lucky, our co-workers acknowledge us with a cake and a round of singing.

I can honestly say I fall into many of these camps. Perhaps it hearkens back to the days of my childhood when the world seemed to stop for my birthday. My entire class celebrated my birthday, my parents made special meals and gave me gifts. In fact, I can remember practically every birthday from age two to twenty one. I will be honest. I know it is because I love being the center of attention, but as someone who is memory challenged, this recall is quite a feat.

These days I try to extend my birthday for as long as possible. Not only have I planned parties and lunches, but I begin celebrating a good week before my birthday and continue the celebration long into February. After all, I am a special person and deserve to be celebrated (hey, no low self-esteem here).

However, this year is starkly different for me. It is easy to take a day (or three weeks) to celebrate when life is going along just dandy. Unfortunately, I have not been blessed with that situation in recent months. So instead of saving up all my favors for my birthday, I have been cashing in on the love and kindness of friends and family for many weeks. In that I have found contentment and joy.

I do not need a birthday to know I am loved. I do not need a party to be taken care of. My friends and family are there whether it is January 24 or December 9 or July 28. While I thought I needed to celebrate more than ever this year, what I have learned is that I celebrate in better ways every day. In every lunch date, phone call, dinner invite, text message and email is a little bit of a birthday celebration. Every hug is a true gift. Every simple act of support is the people I love telling me that they are happy I am part of their lives.

I am joyful they are a part of mine. That is the best birthday present ever.