Twenty-seven

I grew up in a family that celebrated birthdays...bigtime. When we were young, my mom would spend a fair amount of time making the day pretty special for us. She would make us a cake - whatever kind we wanted, and decorate it with a coat of frosting and those nifty pre-made sugary candies you can buy at the store. We got to pick that out too. She also decorated our kitchen to the max. She hung streamers from each corner, meeting in the middle above the table. At the center of the streamers she would hang a bouquet of balloons (afterward we would get these to play with). There were several presents, all wrapped in bright happy paper. We always had a little birthday party, wherein our little family would sing "Happy Birthday". The cake would hold as many candles as we were years old. It was a grand day.

I remember my first year at college (sorry for all the college reminiscing stories this week!), I was so completely BUMMED OUT when it came to be my birthday and no one decorated my room with streamers or balloons, there was no cake, there were very few (if any) birthday gifts, no singing. It made me really sad.

Not this year.

Hubby got me a really nice gift for my birthday this year. It wasn't even something I asked for. But I do really like it. It is a silver charm bracelet. Mine has Reagan's initials on it (which I happen to think is really cool) and my birthstone. Its just pretty cool. Its fun to get something you never would have asked for, but really like. Its fun to be celebrated just for BEing. Its just fun to have a birthday.