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| Happy shrimp-and-grits birthday to me!! |
Well, it's that time of year again...time for the birthday post. :)
43 this year! I actually forgot my own birthday this year, which is kind of funny, in a way. I had just spent a week in New Orleans with Simon and our friends Andy and Liz. It was a whirlwind of a trip where we walked at least miles a day in pursuit of some of the best and unique foods that the city had to offer. To say I over-indulged on multiple occasions would be an understatement. It wasn't until we had checked in for our first of two flights home and were sitting in the airport, coffee and breakfast sandwich in hand, that I opened up Facebook and saw all the birthday wishes. I turned to Simon and said, "Today is my birthday." We both just started laughing. And then Simon immediately felt bad that we didn't acknowledge the day of my impending birth at any point on our trip. You know, I'm okay with that. Sometimes (most times, actually) being the center of attention makes me feel weird.
I've never been a person who was big into birthdays. They don't get me overly excited, they don't give me anxiety...most of the time, my birthday is just another day. Maybe that's part of aging, or maybe that's just me. I definitely have friends who celebrate their birthdays for the entire week of their birthday, and some even celebrate the entire month. I think we all just view our birthdays differently.
I will say though, from the bottom of my heart, I absolutely loved the texts, Marco Polos, and Facebook birthday messages that I received yesterday. It made me feel so special to hear from people from all 43 years of my life: friends from all over the country, and even all over the world as I have multiple friends on international trips right now, who wished me a happy birthday from afar; family from here and abroad, the farthest away being my uncle Sy in Thailand; coworkers both current and former, from all over the country from my various jobs, some well over a two decades ago; classmates from high school and classmates from college; ex-boyfriends; a match.com date from over 15 years ago; neighbors from years past; friends-of-friends and family-of-family, some of whom I have yet to meet in person; and even birthday wishes from those random people that maybe I know and maybe I don't, who friended me on Facebook that had me wondering, 'who is this person?' Every single message was read and appreciated, and just know that hearing from all of you made me feel special.
At the end of the day, it's so nice to be remembered and it's something that I personally don't do enough. Every year I say I'm going to get better about birthdays...sending messages, sending cards, sending texts, sending emails...and every year I fail. I just want to hold this feeling in my heart, this feeling that you've all given me on my birthday, and continue that for the rest of you. Because it's important. The day itself might not be important, but the connection between all of us is, and I want to pass that on as best I can, for as long as I can.
