Birthdays

My birthday is this month and I was reminded by a friend of different things/situations that have happened on my special day.

Just like the year I got a phone call from my aunt and she started to greet me but I was a bit confused, I had forgotten that it was my birhtday.

Before cell phone, internet, iphone, blackberry and texting, we had to wait for birthday cards to arrive by mail and most times, the cards came days after my birthday. We were lucky to get phone calls from friends or relatives far away as it was expensive to call long distance. How times have changed, now you get texts seconds after it was sent and unlimited long distance calls.

My sister has this thing as to who greeted me first as I think she wants to be the first one. Years ago she would get that honor of being the first. In the last 10 years, someone else has got that honour but only because a friend lives in the UK and he has been the first one all the time because of the 7 hour time difference. I don't know if he also wanted to be the first as I have noticed a birthday text was there when I woke up. Let us just wait and see what happens this year.

Last year was the weirdest, I got two texts an hour apart and it was from ex-boyfriends, one from New Jersey and the other from the UK.

One year I only got at the most 4 calls and I realized then that people have become so busy and it made me feel sad about it, so I try and remember to greet friends and relatives.

Then there was the year I got flowers a few days before my birthday and I was wondering who would have sent it as it did not have any card. So I kept saying why my dad forgot the day or how wonderful my sister remembered or the kids finally gave me flowers only to find out that there was a campaign to sell roses at my ex-husband's school and a co teacher forced him to get 2 dozen roses. Oh, well that was how close he got to being romantic!!

Another year, someone invited me for birthday lunch and another friend a dinner date and I went home with stomach ache or was it food poisoning!

There was also years I would visit relatives to spend my birthday with them but I have had to go home the day before my birthday.

Birthdays come and go but somehow we look forward to it. The older I get the less important it gets, just another day just like any other holidays. But it is the day we get a year older and hopefully wiser and smarter. Still it feels good when friends and relatives remember, as it somehow makes me feel important even for just that day.

To those who will celebrate their birthdays this month, may i be the first to wish you
"Happy Birthday".