Adult Birthday Rituals

imag15741Last week I celebrated another year on the planet. As an adult I don’t always have a birthday party like I did as a child. It depends upon my mood, number of years old, serendipity of fun events on my birthday. This year, on 10 September, I held a party to celebrate my birthday and six months blogging at The Engineers’ Daughter.  People brought food and I provided cake. Avalanche Lilly provided live music; my friends Ramune and Drew play in this band.

My actual day of birth falls on 12 September, which this year occurred on a Monday. That day I worked– finishing up a technical paper for an IEEE workshop. When I did an internet search on Google I noticed that the site recognized that it was my birthday. Naturally, I logged on to Facebook to read the birthday greetings. I ended the day though with what has become the one thing I now do every year. With a glass of wine, I sat down with the birthday cards that arrived in the mail or at the party. One by one I slipped the edge of the opener at the envelope’s seal and admiringly looked at the card and read the inscription.

I’m looking forward to this coming “trip around the sun.”  I have no idea if I’ll have a birthday party, dinner out with friends, or attend a musical event.  Opening up my birthday cards on my actual birthday will continue to be the one repeatable event.

Have a Productive Day,

Anne Meixner

Dear Reader, please share your comments and stories that are sparked by this piece.  For instance, do you have something you do on every birthday? See Contribute for how you can share a story at The Engineers’ Daughter.

Additional Reading

I found a link that lists birthday traditions around the world.  It was there that I learned that in some cultures everyone celebrates on the same day. Everyone celebrates their birthday on New Year’s Day in Vietnam, a day they refer to as “tet.”

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