Post-Birthday Post

Once upon a time, many years ago, in a galaxy far, far away I was thrilled about celebrating my birthday. I would get these nervous/anxious knots in my stomach, like how I would feel on Christmas Eve or the night before the first day of school. Anticipation!  But after I had reached the milestone birthdays of 10, 16, 18, 20, 21 and 25 I felt like all of the good years had passed, leaving me the new milestones of 30, 40, 50 to face, no longer with anticipation - no, more like dread and angst!

I feel bad for all those times when I would criticize, berate anyone who complained about turning another year older, because now I am in those shoes. Hello Pot, Meet Kettle! And now that I am one year closer to a new milestone I really sympathize. On the other hand, I have to be careful bemoaning my current age, because someone else who is younger than me might start to panic and someone else who is older than me might start to hate me for complaining. So, I’m done with all of that! I’m back to just celebrating the fact that birthdays are fun, and it is great to be recognized by family and friends. 

I had a terrific birthday! I received cards from my family; and one of the cards I received came in the mail a few days before my birthday - a really cool homemade card from my Aunt Margo! I also got a nice gift card from my parents and my brother Jordan and his wife Erin gave me DVDs of the first two seasons of one of my favorite shows/guilty pleasures - Drop Dead Diva.

And then there was a sweet surprise: homemade cards from my niece Matteah and my nephew Casey. I was already surprised and delighted to see them at church with Jaimee (they came to see my dad give a talk) and then when they gave me these cards my heart just melted! I told them that I loved the color of the construction paper they used for the cards, adding that green is my favorite color! Then I opened the cards and was filled with love, pride and awe! I was truly touched! And now I understand how my parents must have felt whenever I gave them a homemade card!

Speaking of being touched, I was equally moved when I went on Facebook and saw all of the wonderful greetings from my friends/family members posted on my wall. Awesome! I really appreciated all of the kind words, the recognition and I quickly forgot the downside to birthdays, focusing on the positive: I’m grateful to be alive and grateful to have so many amazing people in my life! Thanks everyone!