Birthday Thoughts

Yesterday was another anniversary of my birth, and it’s got me thinking about the many ways that I have celebrated that day in the past. Mostly I’ve been thinking about how my expectations have changed through the years. It seems that expectations about pretty much everything change the older we get.

I came from a family that celebrated birthdays with warmth and predictability. There was always a homemade dinner and a homemade cake or other dessert. There were always a few presents and an evening of spending time with extended family. But, while these times were special, such certainty excludes creativity and tends to produce expectations. But life is not always as predictable as my childhood birthdays.

Being born at the beginning of September brought with it some unique challenges. My 4^th birthday was spent in a hotel room during an end-of-the-summer family vacation, and my birthday cake was a single chocolate cupcake with candles. My first day of junior high was my 12^th birthday, and I distinctly remember having to correct one of my new teachers after he mispronounced my name during roll call, turning me into a boy instead of a girl. I’m not sure I made a very good first impression that day as I told him with sass, “It’s Michelle – I’m a girl!”

After I became an adult, I quickly figured out the fallacy of the September-through-June ministry year that many churches adhere to. Women’s events usually didn’t start until mid-September or October; so the monthly celebration of birthdays always eluded me. And remember Secret Sisters, where you could sign up to secretly bless another woman in the church for several months of the year? You guessed it – this ministry always ran from October through May . . . so early September birthdays never fit the timeframe. But enough about immature expectations.

Aging helps us to be more realistic . . . and to be more grateful for simpler and less selfish things. So this birthday I am thankful that I am still here and relatively healthy nearly 32 years after having treatment for cancer. I am thankful for the ability to go out to eat at a nice restaurant with my husband. I am thankful for brightly-colored birthday flowers. I am thankful for the privilege of talking with my children on the phone on my special day and to Skype with my four grandchildren as well. I am grateful for the sweet voice of my 4-year-old grandson spontaneously singing “Happy Birthday” to Grandma. I am thankful for the dear friends who sent me birthday messages or cards and for the birthday phone call from my brother. I am thankful that I have so much more to be thankful for.

 

 

And I am thankful for cheesecake . . . because cheesecake is always a good way to celebrate your birthday!