Birthdays

Tomorrow I will be 52 years old...and I don't care what Oprah says...50 is NOT the new 30's! Maybe if you have a personal trainer, a bazillion dollars, 3 houses, a personal chef...etc.etc.etc. (I AM not jealous.) As of this minute, there are no big celebrations planned. I will most likely spend the day de-boxing. (that is what one does after one moves from one house to another) However, in thinking about birthdays, I began thinking of some that will "always be remembered".

BD #9--Mom got up early and baked me a beautiful birthday cake, then proceeded to go into labor and at 10:00 PM had the audacity to give birth to a BROTHER! (I distinctly asked for a little sister!) McDonald's wasn't around back then, so if I remember right, whoever was babysitting fixed PB&J for my BD dinner and I didn't want to eat the cake until Mom and Dad were there. Eddie turned out to be one of the BEST birthday gifts ever!

BD #16--Mom decided to have a SURPRISE party for me. It was really more of a SHOCK! Mom (love her anyway) always thought I could "do better"...choice of friends, clothes, jobs, etc.etc.etc. So, instead of inviting just my friends or asking them who she should invite...she went through my HS yearbook and picked out people that she thought looked like people I should be friends with. The crazy thing is that they actually came. To this day, I'm still not sure why...curiousity? end of summer and in need of a good party? boredom? Anyway, there they were when I walked in...people I went to school with, yet didn't know. Preps, nerds, jocks, "hoods"...she had chosen from just about every category. I don't know what they came expecting...but I'm sure it WASN'T actually playing "pin the tail", musical chairs, Twister, and a number of other 'party' games. Oh, forgot to mention, there were about ten 7 year olds there too...all running around like banchees. I was totally humiliated...as only a 16 year old can be. The funny thing is, even now at HS reunions, people will come up to me and say "remember your bd party?" They seem to remember it fondly, and I have to give Mom credit for trying.

BD #18--I was packing for college. Didn't even have a clue how wonderful the next four years would prove to be.

BD#20--I was a camp counselor and very naive and innocent (really, I was). We all had to do laundry together at a laundromat on the weekends. I always went to the far side of the laundromat because I didn't want the male counselors seeing my "undergarments" (I dressed in a closet all 4 years of college.) Anyway, right at the end of laundry night, the guys came in dressed in dark suits and carrying violin cases...they stuck a pillowcase over my head and "kidnapped" me. (If that kind of thing happened today, someone would call a SWAT team to rescue me, but back then you could get away with fun stuff like that.) They all (all the camp staff) took me out for a great bd pizza and then we went back to camp where the kitchen staff had baked a great bd cake. Then I got gifts...everyone on staff had bought me the wildest pair of bikini underpants they could find...I was totally embarrassed...but we all had a great time.

BD#21--Was in Florida with my Mom and 3 friends...note to readers...DON'T travel with Mom and 3 friends...doesn't always work out well. On this particular day we went to Disney World. Mom slapped a rude lady while we were having lunch in the Main Snack Bar. I should clarify, she didn't just slap her...she slapped in rythm as she shouted out, "You are rude and Un-American!" We spent the rest of the day waiting to be arrested and/or thrown out of Disney. Later in the evening (much later) Mom abandoned me and my friends at a truck stop we had stopped at for supper. (She had finally had enough of my friend Brenda correcting everyone.) She did come back, after about 2 hours, during which we were all counting our money and trying to figure out how in God's name we would get back to Ohio. None of us felt it would be safe to hitchhike.

BD#27--I was working at a camp in Northern Ontario. My girls and I had spent the day cutting trail through Canadian wilderness. As adventurous as this sounds...it really wasn't fun...it was hard labor with machetes and mosquitoes big enough to carry you away. On the 2 mile hike back to our campsite, I was feeling that I could not take another step. Then we got between a mama bear and her cubs...she chased us for about 1/2 a mile and I found the energy to make my feet move!

BD#28 & 29--I don't remember specifics, but was in the Dominican Republic and know that they were spent with wonderful friends...eating and dancing.

BD#30--Spent the day with good friends...still in the Dom. Rep. Had lost Eddie (my 9th BD gift) to suicide just five months before so didn't feel like a celebration since it would have been his 21st birthday. However, felt loved and secure and cared about all day!

Since 30, I'm sure I've had some good and some bad birthdays...nothing sticks out in my head right now...last year I took Zack to Applebee's for my birthday dinner and he snuck away and told the waitress it was my birthday. She brought balloons and free dessert (most of which he ate)...but I loved that he thought of that.

Anyway, it's been a good 52 years...with some bad thrown in here and there for growth. I am looking forward to what this next year brings.

Happy Birthday to me!