Birthdays!

With 5 children and 4 grandchildren, it seems as if we are always celebrating birthdays. Cake, ice cream, and gifts. The lights are turned down, the candles lit, and we all sing a slightly off key version of the birthday classic. For the children, the candles represent an achievement. Finally, I'm two or twelve or 14. With each year comes new freedom and new responsibility. For the adults, it's different, isn't it? The candles symbolize the past rather then the future. For Mary and I, past 60 now, we gave up putting an accurate number of candles on the the cake long ago. As we age, birthdays become a reminder of how many years have gone by, how fleeting life is, how precious the time. The best thing about birthdays, no matter what the age, is that it is recognized and celebrated. Birthdays are an excuse to get together, to indulge in sweets, to laugh together. So keep the birthdays coming. I like cake!