Happy Birthday to Me!

Yup, it’s true. Today is the big day. I am a grand ole 58. Believe me, it sounds incredibly old. I really can’t believe I am almost 60. It seems just like yesterday that I was surviving the trauma of turning 30. Enjoy your 30s and 40s kids, because those years just keep right on kicking by and there is no going back. Getting older is, however, better than the alternative.
I’ve learned over the years to appreciate birthdays. Because I had the misfortune of expecting that my family would remember my birthday at the same time that my parents did in fact forget my birthday and I was therefore sorely disappointed, I learned to take matters into my own hands. I started to plan and for several years implemented my own birthday celebrations. It really is the way to go. That way you get to do what you most want to do. I generally did a picnic of barbequed hamburgers – seemed perfect for the time of year. I would make a yummy potato salad and Toufkuchen for the birthday cake. I'd serve the cake with Schwan's chocolate almond ice cream -- yum!
And, I consider it an honor to have been born on the day that is the exact half-way point of the year. July 1st is day number 182 – half way to December 31. I was born on a Sunday at 1:08 p.m. “. . . the child who is born on the Sabbath Day is bonny and blithe and good and gay.” Of course, that sounds just like me.
Our family had birthday traditions but they weren’t very elaborate. We always had a birthday cake with candles. The cake was always served with ice cream. The birthday person always had money secreted into their piece of cake. And we had the “Happy Birthday” song sung to us while the cake with lit candles was held in front of us. We were encouraged to “make a wish” and then had to blow out the candles in one breath for the wish to come true.
As a quick aside, Patty Smith Hill co-wrote with her sister the song “Happy Birthday". Patty Hill is also an important historical figure in the world of child development. I’ve lectured about her every year for the last 20 plus years. To help the students remember her, I always had them sing the “Happy Birthday” song with me. The song has been adapted to many other cultures. In Brasil, it is sung rapidly and while lightly clapping hands. The words get translated into: Congratulations to you, Congratulations to you, This day cherished, Many years of life.
We also received birthday presents but to be honest, I can only recall one gift I received – money to buy what I wanted and I bought a hula hoop from Trollinger’s Drug Store on Main Street. I think I was seven so that would have been 1958. Because I had a summer birthday I think I usually got something summery, like a swimming suit that I needed.
I don’t remember if there was a favorite cake for our birthday cake, or if we even had a choice. I remember Aunt Jean doing Angel Food cake with whipped cream and peppermint candies for Bruce’s December birthday but I don’t remember any other specific cake that we had growing up.
I remember that some years we had the choice of either having a party with our friends or going out to dinner with mother and dad. I’m pretty sure the going out to eat was limited to George Kay’s, but I’d defer to the memory of my older sibs on what the choices were in Twin Falls at the time. I only remember having one party and I requested that Judy Hartley who lived down the street “do” the party for me. I must have been to a party at her house and I was impressed with what they did so I wanted a party just like hers and thought that having her do it would make it so. I remember nothing about the party except the house being clean and being ready for people to arrive. In my mind mother always subtly encouraged us to choose the dinner out – gosh, I wonder why? Pat says she doesn’t remember having this choice so perhaps it was a short lived practice.
So, what have I forgotten? What other traditions did we have? How have my sibs morphed these traditions in their own families?
Oh, and for birthday #58 we’re going to see a movie (“The Taking of Pelham 1,2,3”), eating dinner at a Brazilian restaurant, and celebrating with an ice cream cake. Happy Birthday to me!