december isn't a good month for a birthday. it never has been.
the problems started young, when people began giving me a combined birthday-christmas gift. even my little 7 year-old brain could compute the fact that this wasn't happening to my may and april birthed sisters. no one else gets one gift for two separate gift-giving occasions... unless your birthday is in december.
things got worse as i got older, and my birthday repeatedly fell into the black hole of "finals week." this happened in high school and in college. everyone was orbiting on their own heart-attack-inducing schedule, and we'd pass like ships (or zombies) in the snow-filled night. i was always so distressed and frazzled, and all my friends were similarly dispositioned, so that we never could celebrate with the oomph required.
i will pause here to say i've have a couple kick-A birthdays. my junior year in college, when i turned 21, there was a surprise party that completely bowled me over. we had so many people packed into our little roth apartment, and there were lots of goofy shenanigans to be had. i remember dancing, pina coladas, balloons, and some game where people had to share memories about me. i felt really loved that night.
in australia, i had the most epic birthday, mostly because it was summertime, it was report back week, and we all went to the beach. i will probably never got to the beach (and actually swim) on my birthday ever again. i got a cake, i got gifts, i got to have a "birthday table" surrounded by loved friends - many who i hadn't seen for the past 3 months as we'd all split up to our respected parts of africa. it was freeing and fantastic because we'd all accomplished some huge things, and now was the time for celebrating. plus, i was in australia.
last year, david threw me a similarly shocking surprise birthday party, during one of the most treacherous snowstorms on record. i thought i was going to his place for dinner, but was greeted by dozens of brave des moines friends who had suffered crazy hazards (ryan walked!) to celebrate with me. i felt so thankful and blessed by the new community of friends and the thoughtfulness of my future husband.
ok. so obviously my birthday hasn't always been so bad. but the icing on the cake, if you will, has been the Children's Christmas Play. i work at a church, and the date of the kid's program (which, unfortunately, feels like a terrifying reflection of my (in)ability to do my job) has relentlessly fallen on my birthday weekend these past 3 years. amid the dress rehearsals and last-minute prop hunting (add to it this year: 2 staff christmas parties, an interpretive "dance" that has yet to actually be rehearsed, and a pizza party for the kids), i've got no time to hit the pause button and whine like a little kid about how it's my special day.
and, in the end, that's the most noticeable thing about growing up. your birthday just clicks on, like every other day of the year. no one gives you a special crown to wear, or makes cupcakes in ice cream cones for you to share, or let's you get away with whatever you want. so, i guess i should be thanking december, for preparing me for what's to come: inevitable adulthood.
still, i will do everything in my (limited) power to keep my future children from suffering at the hands of a december birth.
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