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Melissa's Musings

.A Passage of Time.... by Melissa Keir    #birthday #party #age

8/13/2014

 
Today I'm taking a moment away from my regular book posts to share a few thoughts on age and birthdays. Yes, today is my birthday. I was born a long time ago in a small hospital where the dad's paced in the hallways, awaiting the news. A nice size (8 pounds), I never remembered much of those early days. Thank goodness my parents saw fit to take a million photos and home movies. But once I grew up, my thoughts about birthdays evolved.  See for yourself!
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A Passage of Time…

Birthdays.. the word conjures up memories of balloons, cake and pin the tail on the donkey (weren’t those games always lame?).  As a child, birthdays were second in importance of holidays.  Only Christmas was more important.  You would agonize over which friends to invite and what to put on your wish list.


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Parents plan for these parties like a general planning for war.  Each party needs to be different and better than last years (or the little girl’s down the street).  I remember the year my daughter wanted a pool party.  Her birthday is in May- not exactly pool weather in Michigan!  So we rented two rooms at a local hotel and had our party there to my daughter’s delight and her friend’s envy!

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As you get older, birthdays change.  You dream of breakfast in bed, your favorite dinner (in a restaurant- not cooking it yourself!), and the PERFECT gift.  Quickly this fantasy fades.  Reality sets in and birthday just becomes another day.  You still have laundry to do and bills to pay.  It only takes one or two years to understand that birthdays are very different now that you are an adult and certainly as a mom.  My first birthday after getting married was a shocker.  Not only my husband forgot but my family did too!  Only after listening to my crying for hours, did my husband pull a frozen pie out of the freezer, put candles on it, and sing happy birthday.

Some adults fear and dread their coming birthdays because they mark another year closer to old age and death.  They fight getting older.  Just go to the make-up isle of any store to see that.  The cosmetics industry makes tons of money off that fear.  I remember that my mom never would admit her true age.  She would tell everyone (each and every year) that this was her 25th birthday.  We weren’t quite that gullible.  We would tease her about WHICH 25th birthday this one was.

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What do we really celebrate with birthdays?  The name says it all!  We should celebrate the day we came into the world rather than a number!  Just ask any mom and they can recall in detail, the day their child was born (much to the horror of women who haven’t given birth).  I do recommend not asking a brand new mom- she may have a painful perception!  I believe that parents set out with good intentions to celebrate the birth of their child each year.  But somewhere down the line, it becomes a competition or a death march.

It isn’t about gifts and cards- and I’m sure that Hallmark would never tell you that!  Don’t you agree that a hug or a heartfelt letter is more meaningful than a cake, candles, or piñata? Birthdays should simply be a celebration of a person’s existence by the people who impact their lives.  Instead we should celebrate the wonder of the day and thank the person for sharing their life with us.  After all.. we are the lucky ones and have them in our lives!
Happy Birthday to me and I'm happy to have had the years with my mom. Birthdays were a special time. Now I get to celebrate them with some of these amazing people! Now I've heard that cake calories don't count today... so have some with me!
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*only the photos in the slide show are real photos of me and my loved ones.

D'Ann
8/13/2014 04:12:04 pm

Happy birthday, Melissa. I rarely enjoy my birthday. It's on the 3rd of July and everyone is always gone/busy with the 4th. I cry every single year. Ugh.

Melissa Keir
8/14/2014 07:57:28 am

Thank you D'Ann. My mom's birthday was right after July 4th, so I'm sure she felt the same. I always cry on my birthday, too. It seems like such a time of reflection and missing my loved ones.

Jennifer Lowery
8/14/2014 01:35:50 am

Happy Birthday, Melissa! Love the family pics!

Melissa Keir
8/14/2014 07:58:09 am

Thank you Jennifer. My family is certainly important to me!

Judy Baker link
8/14/2014 03:00:40 am

Here's wishing you a great day. Enjoyed your passage of time birthdays. The faster my birthdays rolls around, the more I appreciate the life I've been given.

Melissa Keir
8/14/2014 07:59:31 am

Time seems to go so fast as we get older. Thank you for the birthday wishes!

Liza O'Connor
8/14/2014 03:05:19 am

Hoppy Bird day to you
Hoppy Bird day to you
Hoppy Bird day, dear Melissa,
Hoppy Bird day to you.

and many more....

Melissa
8/14/2014 08:00:52 am

Thank you Liza. I think that bird-days are much better than birthdays! :)

Jenna Jaxon
8/14/2014 08:30:06 am

Happy Belated Birthday, Melissa. I've always enjoyed my birthday, although it does seem to come around much more quickly now than it did when I was very young. I hope yours was fun and fantastic this year. :)

Melissa
8/14/2014 09:52:38 am

Thanks Jenna. Today is my birthday. :) But you are right... they do feel much different now that we are older.

Sia Marion link
8/15/2014 02:48:26 pm

Happy Birthday, Melissa! I love birthdays. Any excuse to celebrate and do something special-I'm all in! I hope your's has been wonderful : ) May your coming year be blessed...

Melissa
8/15/2014 03:36:00 pm

Thank you Sia. It was a nice day with my family!


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