Your birthday, Your Way
My mom raised me to make time for celebrations. When I was a sophomore in high school, I planned surprise birthday parties for all five of my closest friends. When my birthday came at the end of the school year, I went to school confident that there were be a cake or special surprise for me. But it became clear by lunchtime that no one had planned anything special. I walked home for lunch, depressed and unhappy. "How could my friends let me down, after all the parties we hosted?" I wailed to my mother.
"It's your birthday, you can throw the party," she said. Mom suggested that she could make Chinese food and I could go back to school and invite my friends for dinner that evening. It turned out to be a wonderful party, even though my friend Tony's impromptu gift idea was to sprinkle ketchup on his index finger, stick it through a hole in a jewelry box , and invite me to lift the lid of the box as he held it in his hand.
Even now my mother makes her own birthday celebrations. She stretches the festivities out over a week -- inviting the people she likes to various breakfast and lunch gatherings. Sometimes it's Dutch treat; sometimes it's Mom's treat. The important thing is that she marks the time as special by having a celebration rather than waiting for others to plan something. It's a lesson in being responsible for your own happiness that I will never forget.
P.S. The photo above is my family at my Dad's 75th birthday brunch.
Kathleen Capcara
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