Birthday Disasters


Today is a special day for me.  Today is my birthday!  Happy Birthday to me!!  Let's not talk about how old I am, but needless to say, I am no longer (as they say in the Ozarks) a spring chicken.  I've experienced quite a few birthdays.  Some of them have been sweet, and others...not so sweet.  I remember as a kid having the typical December birthday.  I always heard, "Open up your gifts for Christmas and save one for your birthday."  If you have a birthday near Christmas, you have experienced my pain.  I always had my birthday gifts wrapped in Christmas paper, and always had two birthday cakes- one for me and one for Jesus.  Because my birthday happened during the Christmas break, I tried to have parties.  Everyone was always travelling, so attendance was spotty.  I think that is why so many people invite my family to their kid's parties.  If no one shows, keep the Tardiffs on retainer.  One phone call and our group of six show for an instant party!  I remember a particularly awful birthday.  It was my sweet sixteenth birthday.  I should have been hitting the road solo in my car (or parent's car if you will) but that was not the case.  Instead, I was sequestered in my house with a horrible case of chicken pox at age sixteen!  I remember the monumental birthday when I turned thirty years old.  I had prepared myself for this milestone.  There was a beautiful cake with thirty on it and everything.  My mother questioned me, telling me it didn't seem like I was already thirty.  I gave her the sage advice that time does fly.  It wasn't until later that year that I realized I had actually turned twenty-nine, not thirty.  I had celebrated the wrong age!  So the next year, I celebrated my twenty-ninth birthday.  This year as I showed up at church, I was surprised by our congregation wishing me "Happy Birthday" and giving me a wonderful surprise birthday dinner.  It was a good birthday.  During the good and bad birthdays of the last few years, I've learned a few things.  1. No matter how old you are, everyone wants to feel like their existence matters.  You may not think singing the birthday song and giving cake makes a difference, but it does.  It validates to others that their life is a celebration.  God has seen fit to keep them around for another year, and you celebrate their life and existence.  2. Don't wait to give flowers to someone once they are dead.  Give them flowers while they can appreciate them.  3.With each passing year, you gain a little more experience that can make  you happier in the next year.  I learned not to use a sweater shaver to do my eyebrows.  Ever since that piece of experience, my eyebrows have thanked me! 4. Spend as much time as you can with family.  People get busy, and families scatter.  Make the most while you have time because you can always find things to do, but you may not always have family with you.  So as I celebrate my forty-somethingth birthday, I'm excited about the new year.  I'm cherishing my family and trying really hard not to repeat the stupid mistakes of the past.  I'm leaning on God and reaching out to others.  And through all of this, I am treasuring my greatest birthday gift-tomorrow!

Have a great week high-heeled warriors!

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