Birthdays, Are For Celebrating My Addition to the Universe

How do you celebrate a birthday?

What do you do? What do you expect to happen?

This year, I restrained myself. I didn't tell clerks and random strangers it was my birthday, but I felt like doing it.

I am always delighted.

It's been a while since I made myself a birthday cake. I decided it was time to resume the custom, and I made a strawberry cake. I bought chocolate ice cream to go with.
I received some cards by mail and one present left on the porch beforehand.

This morning, I fixed hot tea, a big slice of cake, sat down and ate while I opened my gift--a gardening book, some seed packets and good gardening gloves from a dear friend--and read my cards. And ate my cake washed down with hot tea. It seemed a great way to begin the day.

I went shopping at the mall for my oldest granddaughter, who will be 14 tomorrow. At lunchtime, I stopped at Luca's, an old, still wonderful pizza place, and got one huge slice of thin crust with black olives, Bell pepper, sausage and pepperoni. Boy, it was good. Hadn't had it in a year, maybe.

Others like to reassess and stake goals on New Year's. I always do it on my birthday. After all, it is MY new year. I made some plans for me.

I had some calls from friends, hugs from family.

My granddaughters gave me some earrings. Lovely.

You notice, I did quite a few things for myself to celebrate me, myself and I. And in the doing, the old excitement and love of my birthday came barreling through.

I know folks who forget their birthdays. People who never celebrate it.

Well, I do. And I like myself for it. And maybe I connect more with kids because they delight in theirs.

I don't know how old I will live to be.

I just know on my birthday, I am delighted.

And I hope it always will be so.

The Joy of Turning Six

on April 3, my youngest granddaughter turned 6. She said it was her "best day" because it was her birthday, she was losing a tooth (hanging by a thread), and she had her party coming up in two days.

Because it was her birthday, she was given a choice that night of going to eat anywhere she wanted. Her parents were betting she would choose McDonald's because she really enjoys the playground. Nope. She chose Joe T. Garcia's, the famous Tex-Mex restaurant in Fort Worth where visitors from around the world come for a "must-see". She's been there a bunch of times with her family. It is not expensive, but it is not cheap, either. I was invited along, and we bundled off on a rainy night to the restaurant.

Even on a week night, there was a long line, in part because people couldn't sit on the patio with the pool and flowers and kerosene heaters to keep off the chill. Something about April 3--seemed like half the folks were carrying gaily wrapped birthday presents for their own celebrations. Laughter and chatter throughout. A mariachi band roamed table to table to sing to the celebrants, You have two choices in the evenings--enchiladas with beans, rice and guacamole served family style, and a plate of tacos. Or fajitas. The adults ordered the enchiladas, her older sister ordered fajitas. The kids love guacamole, did I say? So we ate and stuffed ourselves, bringing a fair amount of the fajitas home. We mentioned to the waitress that it was her birthday and she had requested Joe T.'s.

At the end of the meal, the waitress surprised us with a huge, thick sugar cookie with pink icing and six lit candles. The six-year-old beamed ear to ear, and smiled even wider when we sang happy birthday. The mariachis sang to the two adjacent tables, adding to the celebratory mood. I hope she remembers the cookie--it was big enough to slice, and we we all had a piece. It was good.


Celebration. That's it. We could have gone to any restaurant, but she picked the one with celebration literally in the air.

She picked well.

But it is two days later and time for her party at Chuck E. Cheese. Somehow, the tooth is still hanging in there.Gotta go.