What I Really Want for My Birthday

I didn't wake up and put on a party hat, but it's firmly planted on my head for the day - you just can't see it.

No matter how, um, "old" we get, there's always something just a little more special about our birthdays than all the other days in the year. And this one's finding me in an even mushier frame of mind than my normal. (I am admittedly pretty high on the sentimental scale as a matter of course.)

Once we've experienced a few decades of these events, there's not much we need or want in the way of presents. Except the "people stuff." That's what I want. And I have a lot of it! I am rich in what really matters. Like a close and caring family who can make me crazy at the same time they solidly have my back. Like unbelievably supportive, funny, smart, goofy, sweet and generous friends who make me better every day and are, for all intents and purposes, also my family. Like a remarkable network of colleagues (who, let's face it, usually end up being friends!). That's a pretty great trifecta.

Some of those friends are facing challenge I simply cannot fathom without going through it. They received a diagnosis, and subsequent treatment, and sometimes more disappointment on top of the original sadness. And they dig down and find more strength and courage somehow, even when they thought they'd used theirs up. One of these amazing souls is terminal, and talks about living past her "expiration date." She's spending some of her time teaching me what it feels like at the end of her life, what she is proud of, and worried about, and what she thinks I might want to consider while I have time to make some changes. And I know it's not just for me - she's doing it with others in her life as well. For her, and for my other health-challenged friends, I would love to plop a party hat on top of their noggins and say, "make a wish." And to a person, I'm pretty sure they would use that wish for someone other than themselves. These are the kind of people I know: what a gift they are to me.

This is why, even when I start to feel "mature" or "experienced" or any of the other ways we describe getting older, I will treasure whatever age I reach - because there are so many people who would love the chance to get there and might not.

I know it's time to stop writing when I start to get teary, and that's not what this is about. It's my BIRTHDAY, for crying out loud! Put those party hats on, and let's have cake.

© 2015 A Bit of Brie/Anitabrie