Better than the alternative

I’m struggling with my birthday this year (which is tomorrow). It’s not a change into a number ending in 0, so it should be a non-issue. But that is the issue. It’s nondescript.

It’s a non-birthday. It’s just another day where the people I love are spread out across the world. I will never again have the birthday like when I was 8, when all the people that I knew and loved would all be in the same room celebrating and eating cake.

I love a lot more people than I did when I was 8, and for that I am truly rich. I’m also blessed that one of those people that I love found the time to come visit. I am so looking forward to some time with my dear friend April – my friend in field work, canoe paddling, and camping, as well as playing dress up for Halloween or weddings.

But I still miss so many people that are so far away. I feel like it’s truly a sign of adulthood when birthdays are a measure of trips around the sun, rather than party hats and birthday bumps. And so I mark another un-special birthday, which feels like the day before it and the day after it.

But hey another year older is better than the alternative.