(Bad) Memories of Birthdays Past
My birthday is this week. I hadn't planned anything special for it, which is good because now I'm sick. I was sleepy over the weekend, taking naps on even quiet days and generally feeling like a slug. Then yesterday as I felt midday malaise come over me for the third day in a row I decided to measure my temperature. Yup, a fever. Not severe enough that I need to go to a clinic, thankfully, but enough that it's slowing me down a lot. Happy fucking birthday to me.
I've never had much of a tradition around celebrating my birthday. Or, put another way, I have a tradition of not really being able to celebrate my birthday. When I was growing up the problem was Christmas being so near. Everyone was busy. And broke. I was the kid who often got one present tagged, "Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday!"
I remember being sick on my 17th birthday. That was just as well because it turned out nobody in my family had even bought a gift. They promised me, "We'll have a party when you're better." Well, two days later I was better but the party never came. It got lost in the rush to Christmas. My own family blew off my birthday.
In college and graduate school my birthday fell during final exams week. My friends were either too busy studying for their exams the next day to want to join me in a celebration, or had finished their exams early and gone home already. I remember one exam in my first year in graduate school. The exam was on my birthday and finished at 5pm. "Hey, who wants to go down to Franklin Street and celebrate with a drink and maybe some dinner?" I asked. All my 50+ classmates in the exam room just melted away out the doors, murmuring vague apologies, not to be seen for the next 3 weeks.
Five years ago Hawk and I created a new birthday tradition. It's our joint birthday party. See, for example, our " Turning 82. Together." party. She's always enjoyed having parties for hers, in January. I figured, why not just tag onto it? So now we celebrate ours together. Though when someone brings me a gift it feels weird because I'm so unaccustomed to it!
I've never had much of a tradition around celebrating my birthday. Or, put another way, I have a tradition of not really being able to celebrate my birthday. When I was growing up the problem was Christmas being so near. Everyone was busy. And broke. I was the kid who often got one present tagged, "Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday!"
I remember being sick on my 17th birthday. That was just as well because it turned out nobody in my family had even bought a gift. They promised me, "We'll have a party when you're better." Well, two days later I was better but the party never came. It got lost in the rush to Christmas. My own family blew off my birthday.
In college and graduate school my birthday fell during final exams week. My friends were either too busy studying for their exams the next day to want to join me in a celebration, or had finished their exams early and gone home already. I remember one exam in my first year in graduate school. The exam was on my birthday and finished at 5pm. "Hey, who wants to go down to Franklin Street and celebrate with a drink and maybe some dinner?" I asked. All my 50+ classmates in the exam room just melted away out the doors, murmuring vague apologies, not to be seen for the next 3 weeks.
Five years ago Hawk and I created a new birthday tradition. It's our joint birthday party. See, for example, our " Turning 82. Together." party. She's always enjoyed having parties for hers, in January. I figured, why not just tag onto it? So now we celebrate ours together. Though when someone brings me a gift it feels weird because I'm so unaccustomed to it!