Each year, I grow from my life experiences, I become more mature, more confident, and I add more coping tools for life's roller coasters. Getting older does not scare me for these reasons and because I have had the good fortune of being surrounded by people for whom age was just a number and not some morbid count down to the end of life.
My parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, and a multitude of friends have shown me that acting your age is for the birds. They've shown me what it means to live life and to take each year for the blessings it brings. It's easy to get hung up on the things that are going wrong as we age: saggy butts & boobs, achy joints, forgetfulness, etc. The youngsters I know have shown me how to turn the wrong into right: saggy butts & boobs are just challenges and reminders to take care of myself; achy joints are evidence that I'm still able to do the things I love, forgetfulness is just fun because I get to tell the stories I love over and over again.
This year's birthday began at midnight. I was dead asleep and my phone started ringing. I thought it was the alarm and stumbled over to my dresser to see that it was my grandparents (my mom's parents) calling. My heart stopped. Had something terrible happened???? I answered the phone with, "Hi, is everything okay?" The response from the other end of the line was my grandpa's booming voice singing,
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DEAR STEPHIE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!"
I breathed a sigh of relief and started laughing and asked what he was still doing up. He said he just wanted to wish me a happy day and to make sure my clocks were set forward. THAT is why I love my birthday so much. No, I don't love being woken up in the middle of the night but I love that I am surrounded by friends and family who are excited about another year of life--another year of MY life.
My family has always been like this. Each year, we scramble around celebrating each other's big days and it's not uncommon for one of us to have like 5 birthday dinners. Birthdays last nearly an entire week and I love every stinkin' minute of it.
When we were kids, my mom used to make a big deal out of our birthdays and we'd get to pick our special birthday dinner which she would make along with a cake. We'd all wear paper party hats and a "Happy Birthday" banner would be hung and we'd sing at the top of our lungs to the birthday girl. And birthdays have never been about the gifts with my family either. I mean, we like presents, but we LOVE celebrating the birth of one another. My favorite part is getting the cards. I line up my cards on my mantle until about a week or two after my birthday. I just love to see those special messages from my loved ones. Most members of my family do that still too.
This year, we celebrated my grandmother's (my mom's mom) 70th birthday. I was shocked when my sister reminded me it was her 70th. She just doesn't seem like what I *think of* when I think of 70. My grandmother still works and she's witty and extremely active and she Facebook's more than I do! At her birthday dinner she was cracking jokes about sex (not dirty jokes; just funny but they involved the word "sex" and that's always hilarious coming from your grandma) and she said something like "I don't have any beef with so-and-so," and I just had to laugh that my grandmother is using phrases like "beef" to describe an argument. Sometimes I still think of her as a 50 year old. And clearly they are doing something to keep them young because my grandpa (her husband) was the one calling me at midnight--they were wide awake and I was asleep in bed and had been for several hours!!!
Last year, we celebrated my mom's 50th and my grandpa's (my dad's dad) 80th and if you met either of them, you'd be shocked. My step dad, C.G., and step mom, Lisa, are constantly jet setting and I'm pretty sure they go out more than we do! Seriously, my family manages to stay young. And it's not because of plastic surgery or weird tricks like mayonnaise on their skin at night. They just live their lives and they are goofy while they are doing it. They laugh and play and don't take themselves or life too seriously. They celebrate the good and lean on each other through the bad.
I was fortunate enough for my birthday weekend to spend time with some of the people I love. I got to talk and laugh and enjoy good food and drinks. I even got to enjoy the early morning hours this morning since we got up early to go Mike's triathlon. Though I didn't love being up before the sun, I loved being at an event that encourages people to keep pushing themselves. My husband will be 38 this year and he looks like he's 28. And he began his triathlon "career" only about 4 years ago and he routinely places in his division. Today he took home a 3rd place finish and I am so very proud of him. I couldn't imagine having missed him crossing that finish line today. He told me today, he can't wait to accept his medals when he's 80. I believe he'll do it.
Today, as on most days, I am so thankful for all of you celebrating this day with me. I am thankful for the gifts, the cards, the phone calls, the Facebook messages, and texts. I cannot say thank you enough for thinking of me and making me feel so special. So, on this day of my 32nd birthday, I raise a glass (okay, okay, I've already raised a *couple*) to getting older with grace, with a smile on my face, laughter, celebrating with friends and family, and with no intention of EVER acting my age.
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