Yesterday was my boy’s fifth birthday! What a celebration! Why is it that we rejoice so wholeheartedly when we are children, but as adults many of us just wish the day away?
Well, not me! Today is my birthday – yip! Daniel was my 33rd birthday present, the best I could have asked for. I always wanted to have a baby by the age of 32, and made it by one day! A very special birthday it was – I was so high on pain meds the entire day and was so blessed to have many visitors, but had to ask my hubby later on who was there. I just remember riding this magnificent cloud, all fluffy and soft – with a beautiful little bundle in my arms – filled with euphoria, driven by bliss and smiling almost as much as I did on my wedding day! Ah… just a perfect day all round… (I really hope I was just dreaming all that…).
Today I am 38. Every year I wake up early and go to bed at 12, making the most of this special occasion. It is a day of celebration is it not? It’s not a vanity thing, but it is the one day of the year that I am allowed to revel in each second. 38 years ago today, my precious mother had just been in labour for 18 hours, and eventually pushed out a three-point-something kilo baby with no hair!
But that was the beginning of what I call life, my first existence. We all have a birth story, some a little more exciting than others – but all mark the beginning of our own existence – of being, of contributing to this life – I think that is just the coolest thing ever!
Celebration – festivity, jamboree, commemoration, remembrance, salutation! That’s what the trusty thesaurus spits out for me. I read a chapter of Charlotte’s Web to my boy every night, and Charlotte uses the word ‘salutations’. Dictionary definition: A greeting used in a letter or other written or non-written communication. That is so true – we never actually say to someone – “Salutations!” But it is such a beautiful word! Think I’m definitely going to use it more often. So for me, December is going to be all about happy greetings and salutations!
Okay, so why is it that we shy away from our birthdays? Women mostly – why are we so scared to age? Is it not part of the process of living? Of course we don’t want to age before our time, but what is wrong with a few wrinkles here and there? Each wrinkle tells a story in our lives, good or bad – and totally defines who we are. Maybe it is just because I am happy where I am in my life, there is nothing I feel I still have to do with great urgency that makes me panic – maybe that is why people are scared? Whatever the reason, let’s just celebrate! Never mind the fact that it is December, we should be celebrating every day anyway, but let’s just celebrate being alive, being born and living a life, a gift that was given to each one of us, despite our circumstances – we get to live.
I get the story every year. I love it. My mom tells me in detail about my birth, what I was like as a baby, a toddler and a teenager (yikes). My poor mother, thank goodness we all grow up. I do the same with my boy. He loves hearing about when he was a baby and what he did. He loves hearing about the day he was born and what impact he had (and still has) on the family. It is just so special. A new life gets celebrated with such earnest, so let’s celebrate every year we have with the same fervour.
Be it slowly and carefully, or fast and furious – that is our own decision to make – but let’s just live! I am definitely going to celebrate today – not just because it’s my birthday, but because I am alive!
Love live and shine!
