March is a big birthday month in our family. I will turn seventy-two at the end of the week. Two of our granddaughters also have birthdays this month. Cecily turned nine years old last week and Emily will be ten later this month. We are going to have a joint March birthday celebration. As we get older, birthdays are an opportunity to look back on our lives. For nine and ten year olds, it’s cake and presents. As they get older, these childhood birthdays will fade into misty happy memories. Kids get excited about their birthdays and look forward to being a year older. We older folks are just happy to get to the next birthday and regret getting older. The girls and I are looking at life from opposite ends. I treasure every year I get to celebrate with them.
I never knew my grandfathers. They both died young. One passed away before I was born, the other when I was five years old. I don’t have any memory of him. I miss not knowing them. We all want to be remembered. The more birthdays we can celebrate together, the more memories I can leave behind for them. I want them to know how much I loved them. As they get older, their world expands. They become teenagers, high school, boyfriends, college, careers, marriage. Your time with them is crowded out by life. Every fleeting moment matters. Taking interest in their lives lets them know you care. We don’t get a second chance. Those softball games, concerts, volley ball matches and lacrosse games and just a chance to sit down and talk with them can’t be missed.
I have an uncle who just turned ninety-one and an aunt who turns ninety in June. When I called to wish my uncle a Happy Birthday he first told me he recently read, “that eight percent of the population reaches ninety, the rest are dead.” He’s still a great story teller. His eye for detail and people’s accents and actions is still sharp. As we spoke, he started to tell me about some of the trouble he got into and out of as a teenager and his time in the army and learning about segregation in the south. I felt grateful he wanted to share these stories I never knew. I look forward to talking with my aunt on her birthday. She always been great source of family history.
Birthdays are a celebration of youth, age and life. It’s one of the ways we keep track of our lives. These four precious girls are looking forward to lives that I hope will be fulfilling and happy where the good times outweigh the tough ones. I have many years behind me and much fewer years ahead. But I have the gift of watching these girls discover life. They will be among the best years of my life.
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