A long time ago, in a sweltering suburb a few hundred miles away, a little girl was born. Growing up as an only child, this little girl thought birthdays were all about her. She never had big fancy parties (bounce houses and magic fairy face painters had yet to be discovered) but enjoyed intimate celebrations with neighborhood friends and family.
On the night of her ninth birthday she received a wonderful surprise: she had a new cousin. Her mom announced the news while the girl was frolicking in the backyard swimming pool with her best friends. It beat out the Barbie clothes and bicycle by far. It was the best birthday present ever.
Flash forward about fifteen years. This young, independent woman met a sweet, smart, and even kind of cute guy. On their first date they discovered they have many things in common: a passion for books, a love of history, similar tastes in music, both graduated from the same university, and both share the same birthday.
Well, same date but four years apart.
And his older brother was also born on this crowed day five year before him.
Apparently October was a very busy time for making babies. (She filed that away for future reference.)
Fate was just screwing with her. This was either REALLY creepy or they were meant to be.
Flash forward again to present day. The couple has been married for 10+ years. And this woman (yes, it’s ME) freely admits SHE HATES SHARING HER BIRTHDAY.
She doesn’t want presents or parties. Once she passed 21 there was no need for a big celebration. Once she passed 30 there was no need to really even mention the day.
All she wants is one day a year she doesn’t have to clean up cat puke, cook, load the dishwasher, or clean pee off the bathroom floor. If she had her OWN birthday these teeny tiny little requests could be easily granted by her husband and son. But it’s her husband’s special day too. And birthdays are a BIG deal in his family.
She can’t really go out with girlfriends because then the celebrations would be lopsided. Men don’t go out with their ‘boyfriends’.
So what does the birthday couple do? A few of the birthdays were a blast. The year Disney granted free admission on your birthday worked out well; the family enjoyed a day at the Magic Kingdom for the price of a child admission. Last year the Dave Matthew’s Band was thoughtful enough to hold a concert on the couple’s special day and the duo danced the night away under the stars. But even things like concerts are tricky; it has to be a band BOTH love (no Godsmack or Micheal Franti & Spearhead).
Most of the time they pickup three meals out so no one has to cook. Okay, but once again they have to agree on where to go and precious time is wasted with the “Where do you want to go? I don’t know; where do YOU want to go?” debate which can last for hours.
As if they were twins (eeeww) the couple often receives joint gifts. Yes, they are appreciative of anything anyone is kind enough to bestow upon them, but it is still a bit creepy.
Luckily they do share one love: wine. Granted he is partial to reds and she to whites, but a bottle of vino has become the gift du jour. Thank God they have that in common.
She is still tying to convince her husband to let her move her birthday up or back a day. Then they could each have a day to pick meals and not have to pick up dead bugs. She thinks it’s a win-win deal. Maybe it will happen…someday…Until then they will just have to enjoy a special glass of wine together on their special day. Cheers.
