This morning my husband announced I have one more week of being 39. As though I truly needed a reminder. I love my birthday. The number means very little to me. He smiled at me though ,like he was getting to me. Carefully watching my reaction, gauging just how far he could push the topic. When I merely smiled at him his disappointment was palpable. His smile turned into a face of sheer wonder. Or perhaps it was awe.
"You really aren't bothered are you? It's just another birthday isn't it?" I smiled and answered" Yes but it is MY birthday."
This would bring us to "birthday week". The year I turned 26 was the first year I was to celebrate my birthday without the usual dinner with my parents. Yes I did say 26. I moved out of state just before my 26Th birthday and the usual dinner of a roast and mashed potatoes and Carvel ice cream cake would not be coming my way. I was living in Georgia and when it occurred to me I didn't have any family to celebrate with my first instinct was to buy a plane ticket and go home. But a nurses' schedule being what it is that really wasn't going to work. So I made the decision that instead of feeling sorry for myself because I didn't really have anyone to celebrate with me I would just celebrate myself. I turned one day into a week long self love fest. I did something nice for myself each day for a week before my birthday. Nothing really extravagant just simple like a day of total laziness, a day of hanging around a bookstore and buying whatever I wanted. I had requested my birthday off. One of my co-workers, who had quickly become a good friend called me late in the day and asked if I wanted to meet her and few people at Applebee's for a drink or two after they got out of work. I thought, great nice way to end my birthday!
When I got to the restaurant there they sat with an ice cream cake and balloons. Six people sitting around a table. All who had known me for less than a month, happy to help me celebrate.
This morning I was explaining to my girlfriends how I celebrate "birthday week". Turning 40 doesn't mean I have to amp it up and it doesn't mean I expect anything more from my birthday. I can have birthday week, just in less form that it used to take. I will have to arrange for babysitters if I want to go get a manicure or go shopping. But really it isn't even about spending money or treating myself. I like the idea of celebrating my being here, for however long it has been and how ever long it continues. My mother didn't go thorugh nine months to have me spending my life complaining that I am getting older. Getting older is just a fact. It is what you do with your time that matters most.
I still remember that birthday at Applebee's. And I remember many of my birthdays because somehow they have always managed to come with good friends and family somewhere near by and what is better than that?
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