Time and Tide Wait For No Man
Inside every older person is a younger person wondering what happened.
~Jennifer Yane
September is here, and it's my favorite month. Wait, is it silly to have a favorite? Well, why not. After a grueling summer of mosquitoes and humidity, the cool air and crunchy leaves are a treat. I feel like September is the true New Year, also; school is back in session for kids (and their moms!), many businesses start their fiscal year this time of year, it's when we refocus on business as usual after vacation. Then there's the fact that my birthday falls this month, so I have a special connection to the entire month of September.
What is it about birthdays? It's nice, isn't it, to have a special day set aside, one day a year that "belongs" to us. That's assuming you aren't one of the "lucky" ones who are born on Christmas Day, or one of the a set of septuplets. When I was a child, I remember counting up for weeks to my birthday. By today's (and by "today" I mean, MY CHILDREN) standards the celebration was meager...my mom baked a cake and there were a couple of gifts, at least one of which was probably my school clothes...but the event itself was enough, a day just for me, covered with sparkles.
On the flipside, especially as we "mature", birthdays can be a marker of time passing, a time to think, Where did that year go? and What Am I Doing With My Life?. I know many people now who would rather ignore a birthday, as if they are a malady that can be cured by denial (they can't). Coming up, as I am, on a Landmark birthday, I have been reflecting back on all those past celebrations. Looking back, there is the usual parties, some memorable and some which I strangely can not recall at all. On my 26th Birthday I got married, to my first husband, which by the way I don't recommend, but even that is not what I recall as my most memorable birthday.
On my 18th Birthday, I was a brand new college student, living in the dorm in Yankton, South Dakota. How I ended up in such a situation is a bit fuzzy, even to me. I grew up in a large city, went to a big inner city high school (over 700 students in my graduating class) and being a huge dork with a romantic vision of what living in a small town would be like, picked the smallest school I could find for college. I was only 17 and very socially inept, so naturally picking some place where I knew absolutely no one made perfect sense as well. Obviously I was miserable, lost and lonely. I followed around my roommate and tried to meet the girls on my floor. Everyone else seemed to adjust to dorm life immediately, hanging out in the hallways, or wandering into open rooms with the stereos playing Billy Joel and REO Speedwagon. Instant party! Except for the dork girl, terrified to open her mouth lest she say something to tip off how Stooopid she was, with a big fake smile plastered on her face at all times. Oh, I knew these cool people could see right through me.
Two and a half weeks in, my birthday came, and something amazing happened. After my morning classes, I returned to find my dorm room door covered with wrapping paper and a home made, glitter and glue sign wishing me Happy Birthday! Inside the group of girls I didn't dare try to be part of were waiting with cake and 7-up, and a big card with just the kind of inappropriate picture you would expect from a group of college freshmen. It was the best gift ever, or rather gifts. It was the gift of "you are okay, and people like you just the way you are". It was the gift of "get over yourself and start living!". It was the gift of a special day, and it was the icebreaker that solidified friendships that sustained me through the next several years.
LJ is a wonderful place for birthdays, isn't it? It is understood that there is a great purpose in honoring everyone, once a year, on their special day. It reminds us to honor the people in our lives, just in case we forget the rest of the time.
So spill, Reflectors. Most memorable birthday? Good or Bad. I'm waiting ;)
~Jennifer Yane
September is here, and it's my favorite month. Wait, is it silly to have a favorite? Well, why not. After a grueling summer of mosquitoes and humidity, the cool air and crunchy leaves are a treat. I feel like September is the true New Year, also; school is back in session for kids (and their moms!), many businesses start their fiscal year this time of year, it's when we refocus on business as usual after vacation. Then there's the fact that my birthday falls this month, so I have a special connection to the entire month of September.
What is it about birthdays? It's nice, isn't it, to have a special day set aside, one day a year that "belongs" to us. That's assuming you aren't one of the "lucky" ones who are born on Christmas Day, or one of the a set of septuplets. When I was a child, I remember counting up for weeks to my birthday. By today's (and by "today" I mean, MY CHILDREN) standards the celebration was meager...my mom baked a cake and there were a couple of gifts, at least one of which was probably my school clothes...but the event itself was enough, a day just for me, covered with sparkles.
On the flipside, especially as we "mature", birthdays can be a marker of time passing, a time to think, Where did that year go? and What Am I Doing With My Life?. I know many people now who would rather ignore a birthday, as if they are a malady that can be cured by denial (they can't). Coming up, as I am, on a Landmark birthday, I have been reflecting back on all those past celebrations. Looking back, there is the usual parties, some memorable and some which I strangely can not recall at all. On my 26th Birthday I got married, to my first husband, which by the way I don't recommend, but even that is not what I recall as my most memorable birthday.
On my 18th Birthday, I was a brand new college student, living in the dorm in Yankton, South Dakota. How I ended up in such a situation is a bit fuzzy, even to me. I grew up in a large city, went to a big inner city high school (over 700 students in my graduating class) and being a huge dork with a romantic vision of what living in a small town would be like, picked the smallest school I could find for college. I was only 17 and very socially inept, so naturally picking some place where I knew absolutely no one made perfect sense as well. Obviously I was miserable, lost and lonely. I followed around my roommate and tried to meet the girls on my floor. Everyone else seemed to adjust to dorm life immediately, hanging out in the hallways, or wandering into open rooms with the stereos playing Billy Joel and REO Speedwagon. Instant party! Except for the dork girl, terrified to open her mouth lest she say something to tip off how Stooopid she was, with a big fake smile plastered on her face at all times. Oh, I knew these cool people could see right through me.
Two and a half weeks in, my birthday came, and something amazing happened. After my morning classes, I returned to find my dorm room door covered with wrapping paper and a home made, glitter and glue sign wishing me Happy Birthday! Inside the group of girls I didn't dare try to be part of were waiting with cake and 7-up, and a big card with just the kind of inappropriate picture you would expect from a group of college freshmen. It was the best gift ever, or rather gifts. It was the gift of "you are okay, and people like you just the way you are". It was the gift of "get over yourself and start living!". It was the gift of a special day, and it was the icebreaker that solidified friendships that sustained me through the next several years.
LJ is a wonderful place for birthdays, isn't it? It is understood that there is a great purpose in honoring everyone, once a year, on their special day. It reminds us to honor the people in our lives, just in case we forget the rest of the time.
So spill, Reflectors. Most memorable birthday? Good or Bad. I'm waiting ;)