Hello, It's My Birthday...

Today is my birthday. I know it's a little obnoxious for me to be declaring this little tidbit to the world at large... But I don't care, it's my day and I'm claiming it.

I'm not shy about informing perfect strangers that it's my day, although this fact seriously embarrasses my daughter. I proclaimed it to the girl at the boutique (she didn't offer a discount). I told the girl at the salon. I'll pretty much make sure everyone I see today knows I'm special, even if it's just a 24 hour type of special.

I remember when I was little (and coincidentally, younger...) how a birthday was all-important. I think the only thing better than a birthday was Christmas. I remember parties with all the neighborhood kids in attendance. Scavenger hunts, balloons, cake and ice cream... I fondly recall my surprise Sweet 16 party--I think the whole school showed up! I'm sure my poor mom was a little overwhelmed with the turnout. And it probably wasn't what she had in mind, but I loved it!

When did those happy days of celebration become dreaded days marking the progression to Oldness? I refuse to be a part of that melancholy. As proof of my eschewal, I offer the fact that I rarely declare my true age. I refuse to place importance on any particular age related number. Of course, I do acknowledge the actual benchmark birthdays that mark entry to legal adulthood, or other legally or religiously significant thresholds, but a change from the 20s to the 30s, or the 30s to the 40s doesn't qualify for much in my book.

I know women who claim to be 29 for years (decades?). Not me, since my early thirties I've been claiming 43. Why 43? I don't know... I guess I didn't think that identifying the true number of birthdays I have had was relevant to anything. Or maybe I just didn't think it was any one's business... Or it's possible that I simply didn't want to do the math required to answer the question honestly--I don't always know the correct answer off the top of my head! It's just not something upon which I dwell...

So the question remains, how old am I today? I haven't decided yet. But I like the look of 47--don't you just love the angularity of those numerals?