Every birthday has some meaning to it. Some are a mark in childhood: the very first birthday, becoming a teenager at thirteen, womanhood at "sweet" sixteen, entering adulthood at eighteen. Some mark special moments in adulthood: legal to drink at twenty-one, marking a quarter of a century at twenty-five, reevaluating those childhood goals at the dreaded Three-0!
In between, birthdays are your own personal Christmas with the opening of presents, gathering with friends and family, having special meals...personalized cakes, and just a great reason to party! After these, birthdays can often take on a less celebratory tone and more as evidence that time passes by too quickly...the big Four-0, the bigger Five-0, the biggest Six-0! There's retirement at sixty-two, Medicare at sixty-five, withdrawing from investments without penalties at seventy, three-quarters of a century at seventy-five, remembering so many of your relatives passed away at eighty...ninety, and then joining the small group of centenarians at the rest home!
For me birthdays, all of them, are special and I've always wanted to mark them in someway. From big parties to quiet gatherings, from dinner out at my favorite restaurant to picnics in the backyard, from inviting family and friends to just my husband and I, birthdays are the next best thing to Christmas.
Today I turned sixty-one and Manuel was the first to sing me the birthday song and mark it with a wonderful lunch at the Lincoln Cellar Wine Bar. My sister and mother sent me well wishes and gifts, and my niece Jenny and I will be having a birthday pedicure this weekend. Its been special with well wishes from Facebook buddies, AARP, Google, colleagues, and friends. Growing old...I don't recommend it, but the sting of it is greatly lessened by good family, good friends, and good cake!
(Photographs were taken at my second birthday party, September, 1956. It looks like I had a great time, and I got my first tricycle! A tricycle that got me into big trouble. One morning when I saw friends going off to school, I got on my tricycle and followed them. Mom was frantic, getting the neighbor to watch my baby sister while she went looking. I was found around the corner on the steps of the elementary school. When my mom questioned me, I said, "I'm ready to go to school!")
Sincerely, Kathleen
