We each celebrate in our own way

A while ago, when I mentioned my mammogram was scheduled for the morning of the first night of Hanukkah, a friend told me, "We each celebrate in our own way."

I laughed, but after thinking about it, that's really true. When I was young, a birthday celebration meant a trip to the dime store to pick out a present. (I still have my Whitman-bound copy of The Bobbsey Twins.)

We didn't do birthday parties but my eighth-grade-best-friend-and-locker-partner threw a surprise party for me with a glamour doll cake. (One of the advantages of having a birthday close to Christmas: if your friend wants to draw you to a surprise party, she just calls it a Christmas party on your invitation and you are ABSOLUTELY surprised.)

The first time I ever rode in a taxi was to Molly Mahoney's in Biloxi, Mississippi on my 22nd birthday. Or there was the time, 5 years ago, when for my birthday I held one-day-old Brendan. Our family celebrations were warm Norman Rockwell days instead of the frenzied, large ticket bashes many kids demand these days.

In the tradition of birthday photo trips down memory lane, I've posted my favorite photo. I was probably 12. When I look at this photo, I don't feel so different now than I did then. No one ever mentions you won't feel any more grown up when you are, um, grown up. (For those of you interested in the math, I'm a decade older than the yarnharlot.)

No matter how busy the time of year, there was always a cake, many times Angel Food and sometimes with candy canes. Who else in our family got candy on his cake? Just me. Did your Mom ever cut a circle of bread to fill the center of an Angel Food cake, then frost over it for a pretty, smooth top? You knew it was your special day because YOU got to eat cake AND that frosted-bread center. Yesterday, when my daughter asked what kind of cake I'd like, I said, "Ask Grandma to tell you the recipe for the best birthday cake on the planet" and Mom knew exactly which cake Cass was asking about.

Today I celebrated by cleaning the bunny cage, the cat litter box, scrubbing out the water dishes and giving all the animals sparkling clean water. I have a very satisfying sense of accomplishment.

We each celebrate in our own way. Happy Birthday to me.

(P.S. I can celebrate better than just cleaning up after pets. Later I'll go to one of my favorite yarn shops: Uniquities. She gives a birthday discount that grows the older you get. If I live to be 200, she'll give me all the yarn I want. Cool, eh?)