Today is my 51st birthday. Time to celebrate! 51! I really can’t believe it. I was the baby of the family, but I guess every baby grows up… if given the chance. I have had an amazing 51 years full of so many tragic and joyful events. The highs have been astronomical, and the lows, below the below. As I contemplate over the years on this day, I realize something about birthdays as we get older, they may not be as joyous as everyone thinks. I know, you are thinking it is tough to get old, and it really is an accomplishment that we actually survive another year. I am not feeling sorry for myself that I am old, but something completely different. I realize today how many people who used to be around to celebrate my fantastic birth, are no longer having birthdays of their own. That is what is not so much fun. Yes, I am still here, and thankful for that, but I can’t help missing the two people who brought me into this world, my mother and father. In fact, when I really think about it, my birthday was probably much more important to them than I can ever imagine it will be to me. Today, 51 years ago, my parents welcomed a new member to the family. How intense that day must have been for them. A day that I actually have no recollection of, but I am supposed to remember to have a good time on its annual anniversary! All this time, I had birthdays wrong. It really isn’t about me getting another year older and how wonderful that is, it is about remembering an event where I changed a family, by expanding it. Now that both my parents, my only two brothers, as well as grandparents, and many aunts and uncles are gone, who I remember used to be a part of this “celebration,” birthdays just aren’t the same. Everyone who remembers my birth is not here. Woohoo …let’s eat cake! Somehow, I really am not that hungry.
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