Today is my birthday.
It’s not an occasion that I typically make too much of a fuss about or fret over greatly. Over the years, I’ve had a number of over-the-top celebrations to commemorate the day of my birth, but I’ve grown to prefer a more low-key approach.
Usually, I will spend the day trying my best to relax and enjoying the company of my wife and children. The most extravagant part of the day is generally going out to dinner in lieu of eating at home.
I also try not to worry too much (largely a feat of its own for me about most things) about the specific age attached to each passing birthday.
I do sometimes privately lament the ever-continuous dwindling of my youth—slowly escaping like sand sifting through unclasped fingers. However, I try to take heed of an idiom I’ve heard our editor, Mark White, recite multiple times regarding concern about growing older: “It’s better than the alternative.”
I’d say that’s some pretty solid advice.
After all, I am only 37 today. While that’s a number I may have once winced at, I still happen to feel relatively youthful. The wisdom that often comes with age helps you better understand how wrong you may have been about certain things when you were younger. Or, better yet, brings you much-needed perspective that you may have lacked.
The way I view my birthday, and the coming holiday season as well, has shifted over the years.
As a child, I eagerly longed for the calendar to turn over to Nov. 20. I couldn’t wait for the day to be all about me. And while that particular day may have been mine alone, there were many other days throughout the month devoted to those around me.
My entire nuclear family growing up shared birthdays during the month of November.
My younger sister and brother—both of whom passed away when I was a teenager—each had birthdays earlier in the month than me, landing on Nov. 2 and Nov. 16, respectively. I then fell right in the middle, with my father’s birthday—who has also since passed—being Nov. 25 and my mother’s birthday on Nov. 28.
Once Thanksgiving was thrown into the mix of all that, it was obviously a fairly festive month for me growing up. For that reason, Thanksgiving has always held a certain importance to me above most other holidays, with the lone potential rival being Christmas.
Despite the ways in which it has changed, I still feel an unexplainable, comforting and lighthearted feeling wash over me as November sets in each year. And now that my birthday is here and Thanksgiving looms just over a week away, I want to make sure that I enjoy every moment this season brings me.
I realize now that November wasn’t special just because it was the month of my birth, it was special because it was also a time to celebrate most of the people in my life that I loved.
Today isn’t just about me. In fact, I would argue it’s actually not about me at all. Today is about the people I have around me, the people that love me and the people that I return that love to. They are who is most important today. They are who makes days like today truly, uniquely special.
To those of you who have chosen to grant me the gift of your love on not just this day, but all of the days before and after: Thank you, and I hope you know how much I love you, too.
