Happy Birthdays!

as seen on the Crave Crack-Up @ www.thecravecompany.com July 18, 2010

Summer brings fun in the sun, tan lines and a ton of birthdays. I’m pretty sure it’s due to the cold fall weather nine months earlier. It gets chilly, folks curl up and the next summer you’re hiring clowns and ordering birthday cakes.

I just celebrated a “mid-fourty” (yeah let’s go with that) milestone and it got me thinking about birthdays. I’ve decided to embrace my age, I’m one year closer to owning my stuff and embracing the wisdom that comes with knowing who you are and who you’re not (like coming to terms with the fact that the last time I was a size 6 was when I was 6 and I’ll never see that number on a clothes tag again)…I was inspired when I read this passage recently ”take kindly the counsel of your years” then realized it was from an online guy looking to date women 22-26.

You know that cool Martina McBride song that says, “every laugh line on your face made you who you are today”….well, I have no idea what was so frickin funny over the years but I must’ve had a great time somewhere along the way cause I have the roadmap on my face to prove it!

When you celebrate your 10th birthday you love that Mexican place where you get to wear that huge sombrero and all the clapping just for you and when they light the ice cream on fire. When you turn 36 there you just want the singing to cease so strangers will stop staring.

My oldest son turned 18 recently, a huge milestone right? I mean come on the kid had made it to adulthood, that in itself warranted a fireworks display in both our honors. He was about as excited for his special day as he was his 1st birthday…giving me a blank stare as if to say ”what’s all the hype about woman?” He wore a crazy hat in his 1st birthday picture, now he’s sporting a cap & gown…he still dresses funny in birthday pictures. I was looking forward to my present…after all the kid was still breathing even after I had lost him, poisoned him, made him wear shoes that were 2 sizes too small for a year. What do I win to celebrate that “we” made it 18 yrs?!

When I was 40 I threw myself a big bash with live band and all….I couldn’t believe I had made it that far…and on the way home from the party I bought a huge jar of anti-wrinkle cream.

Let’s hear it for office birthday parties, there’s all that healthy stuff in the break room but on birthday day you b-line to the conference room and you’re like “happy special day, Dave whatever your last name is from accounting”, thanks for being born, now let’s eat some chocolate cake.

Birthdays are a milestone in your life, they are cause for reflection & anticipation. I personally will pour myself a stiff drink, cheers myself and kindly celebrate “the counsel of my years”!