10 Things Thursday--Birthday Edition

10 things about birthdays...

1. Today is mine.
2. The first birthday I remember was when I was turning 7. My dad was across the country working and there was a party at my grandparents house with lots of aunts and uncles and cousins. But I sat on my aunt Shirley's bed and sang It's My Party and I'll Cry If I Want To. Because the one person I wanted to be there wasn't. He was 1000 miles away.
3. But on my 13th birthday, he sent me cards from across the country even though he wasn't.
4. On my 16th birthday I was given a gift in every one of my classes at CDA High School. Just little things, but boy did I feel special. Everyone knew it was my birthday. And I just bet all the other kids, well, at least the girls, were jealous that their parents weren't as creative and loving as mine to send them presents in every class on their birthdays.
5. That was the same year that mom and dad picked me up from driver's ed and took me to a big surprise birthday party with all of my friends. (It's so weird that I remember what I was wearing that day. It was a light blue skirt with a pastel-ly colored animal print shirt. Very 80s.)
6. That was also the year that I got a car for my birthday. But I didn't get it until a few weeks after my birthday. Dad was looking for an El Camino to buy for me. I didn't realize until just a few years ago why he was looking for that specific car. It was because I would only be able to have one other person in the car with me at a time. Fewer distractions. I ended up getting a 1976 Dodge Aspen. It would hold four other people. (It would have been five, but dad cut the front middle seat belt out so that no one could sit right next to me. I understand now. Thanks, dad.)
7. My 21st birthday was the first I celebrated as a married woman.
8. And my 28th was the first I celebrated as a mom.
9. Thirty seven birthdays have come and gone with cake and candles and balloons and presents and family and friends. But only one thing has ever really lasted or mattered--the people who have made those days special.
10. And today, on my 38th birthday, those same people who have been there for so many other birthdays, will make this one wonderful, too.