Another Year Older

September 13th has just come and gone. I was born on that date many years ago but for most years, it is not marked by anything out of the ordinary. My family was never really very big on celebrating birthdays for the kids although we were expected to remember the birthdays of our elders.

The family album would suggest that there was a celebration of sorts until I was about six. I would be dressed in some outlandish costume - one of the best was this cowboy outfit, there would be a present - the one I remember most would be a small pedal car and there would be lots of cake with candles. I really have little memory of my early childhood and certainly remember little of these early birthdays. The kid in the picture seems happy and smiling but I think, a little lonely. There were no other kids to play with at these celebrations - just photos with my mother and sister.

When I was 12 years old, my sister was allowed a big birthday party on her turning 18. As our birthdays are just 2 days apart, I was allowed to invite five friends and have a piggy-back party concurrently. I guess I was excited at the time but looking back it was not much of a party. It was held in the afternoon but apart from food, there was very little to do. There were no games or such. My sister's friends were happy sitting around and chatting girl talk. That was the only birthday party I had as a child.

Before starting the final year of university, I decided to go on a journey of self-discovery while traipsing across Europe. So at one time, I found myself somewhere in Brussels, Belgium. I was trying to register to spend the night at a Youth Hostel. I filled up the registration form rather mechanically as it was getting late and I was tired, dirty and smelly. The clerk took a look and handed the form back to me. He said, "I think you have made a mistake. You filled birthday as same day as registration."

I was slow to understand what he meant. I stared at the two dates and shook the cobwebs in my head and replied, "No mistake". It was his turn to look surprised but then it dawned on him that I was in fact checking in on my birthday....my 21st Birthday. "Happy Birthday" he chirped.

I was surprised. I had been traveling long enough to have lost the sense of time and I had forgotten that it was my 21st birthday. The 21st birthday is usually an important birthday to celebrate in my part of the world. In retrospect, I would have preferred celebrating it at a more congenial location. Nevertheless, I spent the evening having dinner with a Canadian student, a Welsh Parole officer and an Irish artist.

After I got married, my wife and I would celebrate each other's birthday but it too were usually low key affair in the form of a romantic dinner for two. This year though, my wife thought of throwing me a surprise party. She booked a cosy restaurant and was going to start sending invitations to close friends and church members but I kind of derailed her best laid plans by previously agreeing to emcee a dinner for young people from church at someone's home.

Well, in the end, myself, the host and two young people had to jointly celebrate our birthdays in September with two cakes. It was not what my wife had in mind but I did celebrate my birthday this year with a large crowd of friends and it will be one to remember.