Birthday reflections.

As a child, I would almost hyperventilate over an upcoming birthday. Whether it was a McDonald's let's stack styrofoam burger boxes up real high for a game! theme or it was a pre-teen slumber party watching Edward Scissorhands (which was TOTALLY PG-13 and ohmygod, don't tell your Dad!!!), I lived for my birthdays.

I turned twenty-six today. This morning I walked into my office and sat down in front of my computer and I worked 8 hours. I talked to students about majors and careers, I prepared for some upcoming presentations, and then I logged off my computer and caught the bus home. There were no ball pits or Totally Hair Barbies wrapped in comic book paper. It felt like every other day.

Then I got home and checked my email and voicemail. I was flooded with messages from friends and family wishing me a happy birthday, letting me know that they miss me, that they hope I'm doing well in Texas. Then a co-worker picked me up and took me out to a nice dinner. We drank wine and talked about the importance of friendship. We shared stories about beginnings of relationships and our favorite "how we met" anecdotes that people begin to collect over the years like tea cups or baseball cards. I was struck by such a strong feeling of contentment, it caught me completely off guard.

At some point without even realizing when, the importance of birthdays have shifted from pomp and circumstance to reflection and humility. The people that make up my everyday are my joie de vivre. They create the stories worth telling. They help me celebrate who I am and help me aspire towards what I want to become. To me, that's a damn fine birthday present.