Birthdays as different as the people they celebrate.
Or don’t, as the case may be, me a bit of a ‘birthday agnostic’.
A lesson relearned in Alexandria this past weekend for our daughter’s 42nd birthday, and in Charlotte for Halloween and our other daughter’s 39th.
The two events had a lot in common, because the two sisters have a lot in common. – both much loved, and much loving, so please forgive this post as your first holiday ‘sweet’.
They are our daughters, after all…
To wit – an odd phrase, since there’s generally nothing witty about it:
They each have 3 children, who brought the bday energy: Cards, gifts, kitchen decoration, the whole 9 yards (another odd phrase, since you need 10 – I was going to do a post on odd phrases, but most of my posts are just collections of odd phrases, so there’s that).
But a future ‘odd phrase’ post might include: snozzberry, democratic autocracy, and return on investment.
Better yet, kids brought PA a beer when he ran out, the FLA and TX games a bit stressful.
They each have a husband who did/does an excellent job with birthday celebrations, the perfect card with the perfect birthday wish, a great gift, and fun lunch outings.
Even playing Stevie Wonder’s Happy Birthday during the cake lighting.
And who also brought PA another beer when he ran out. College football very stressful…
They each have a mother – oddly, both have My Captor – who taught them how to put on a ‘birthday show’ – the origin of the fully decorated kitchen, the celebratee’s meal choice all day, their favorite cake beautifully decorated.
They each have observant families who have watched the ‘birthday show’ their mother has produced for them, wanting to repay the compliment. No pressure…
But neither sister ‘expecting anything’ – nope, not expecting anything, nothing at all – and while each family believing it, neither group wanting to chance whether that’s just an odd phrase.
Both sisters must have been flashing “It’s My Birthday’ hormones, because everyone we saw knew it was their birthday. We went to a few sporting events, and it was even featured on the Jumbotron.
And the recognition continued at home: Flowers dropped off, friends calling, gifts/cards with meaningful card inscriptions.
All of it reminding of My Captor’s birthday celebrations, which are roughly 14 days in length – it taking that long for all the friend celebrations.
Leading to my annual ‘Why isn’t my birthday like that?’.
Mine maybe a lunch and/or dinner out, a My Captor cake, and kid calls throughout the day.
Which is exactly how I like it. So, there’s also that…
But I recognize that I don’t put a lot of effort into my friend’s birthdays – certainly not My Captor’s kind of effort.
In that vein, another common sister trait – being a friend earns you friends.
You get what you give.
They also share incredible neighborhoods, full of friends and kid friends – even dogs woofing out Happy Birthday! Lots of stopper-bys: Remember me, your old friend Hickory?
But potentially their most endearing shared trait – age merely a number.
And while the ages with zeros on the end merit a bigger celebration, they both remember that every age the best age: There’s always new things to experience just around the corner…
… I did warn you about the ‘sweet’.
Though as we drove home, I (re)pondered what I’d have to do to have a ‘full-on birthday’, and decided I’m OK with my ‘half-full-on birthday’ – to each his own.
But I would love to see my name on the Jumbotron some year…
ENHANCE YOUR ENJOYMENT OF THIS POST, PAIR WITH THE FOLLOWING ‘AGING HIPSTER READING’:
What a great Christmas gift idea: I have two – yes, two -books out:
QUEENIE AND PA: ADVENTURES IN GRANDPARENTING… And Other Topics
BEERS AT THE NIFTY 2024
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