Okay, as Facebook “outs” me, I have to blog about my birthday tomorrow. I always get kind of strange (stranger) around my birthday. We all love our birthdays as kids, as we get older, we see the grave getting closer, everything is drooping and all that. But I take it as my opportunity to take an annual inventory. I actually like to be in Cleveland on our around my birthday in order to do this with complete context for reflection, but the fates did not allow this year. So I thought I would reflect on my own about some of the more memorable birthdays I’ve lived through:
5 – Ground Round in St. Louis, MO
10 – Sleepover at house in Pepper Pike (not to be confused with the Halloween party I had that Eric Hochman came to as the incredible hulk)
16 – Amy Goldberg’s woods with wine coolers (first time I had a drink)
20 – I was so depressed. My boyfriend at the time sent me 20 dozen roses and a singing telegram (a mortician) to my cousin Sharon’s house.
21 – in Lancaster, England (didn’t mean much as the drinking age there was 18). Got drunk at the County College pub.
24 – Brad threw me a surprise party at Camden Yards and then we went out in Baltimore with Bill and Bethke and woke on on a friend of theirs parents’ living room floor the next morning (I swear this is not a theme)
30 – had just given birth a week before and had to leave the sushi place because I was “leaking”
34 – my “friends” at the office did a party with cake for our friend Brian (his birthday is July 
and then they removed everything from my office while I was out buying them Starbucks. good times.
35- another surprise party at Hollyhedge, lots of cosmos
…and that brings us up to present day. A few weeks ago, we lost Derek’s brother Dave very suddenly. Dave’s mom Pat told me not to waste this lesson. Every trial, every tribulation is a gift. Every birthday is a milestone. Is a marker of everything I’ve done and everything I’ve learned and each year of another demonstration of my survival. Savor it. And be grateful.
So as my life changes and my viewpoint changes, I guess my perspective on my birthday does as well. Happy birthday? I guess that’s up to me.
gee what does it say about me, your over forty something friend that can never remember to hit people with that happy birthday cheer on their special day. i miss it every time, and what makes it worse is, on my and Derek’s birthday’s we get the full blown song sung to us from Melissa and Brad, the cheery fun birthday people. glad to see you are mellowing with age. you never looked so good. memory check: i remember speaking to you live from inside the colosseum in rome on your thirtieth birthday.