Why celebrate birthdays?!

April has arrived again, and in fact, as I write this there are less than two hours left of the month. Generally I love April, because it means spring should be around the corner if it has not arrived already (this year spring in Sweden was late), the days have grown longer so biking in the evening is much more pleasant, and then there is the little matter of my own birthday.

I have always loved having birthdays (although, as I have now hit the big 3-5, I confess I would like to have birthdays without actually getting older). As a child in Gary, Minnesota, I remember fun parties with classmates, and looking for presents that had been hidden somewhere in our living room. But unfortunately, since then, I have actually forgotten a lot of birthday celebrations. (A sign of age?!) This is why I dutifully take notes in Yaminah's birthday journal I have bought, to help her remember her birthdays in the future. But for myself, I have not gone to those lengths. Why? I might just have to start to call up people to reconstruct a type of birthday journal, after the fact, asking detective-esque questions such as, "What do you remember from the event? Do you know what the suspect was wearing?" etc, etc, since I am useless when it comes to remembering details when it is about myself.

One could ask what the point is of celebrating birthdays every year, now that I have most definitely left childhood behind. I think there are many reasons. First of all, birthdays are a great excuse to get together with good friends. For the last few years I have invited over a group of girls and we have had a great time together, talking and laughing (and Tomas has had to witness this as the lone male presence). Birthdays are a time for eating good food (including the beautiful birthday cake Tomas made this year, Birthday Cake Recipe). I also know that I love being able to celebrate my friends' birthdays. But this is not the only reason I find birthdays important. I think that in our stressful lives, and in this world that seems to be more and more violent and dangerous (with people close to us struggling with depression; with Boston bombings; unrest in the Middle East; another China earthquake, and a tragic loss of life in the Bangladesh building collapse recently in the news--the list could go on and on--), stopping for a little while to spend time together and focus on celebrating life is more crucial than ever. Because as the years go by, and our eyes are opened to more and more struggles that our fellow people around us, both near and far, the blessings in our lives also become (or should become) illuminated. Yes, there is sadness, but there is also joy; yes, there is tragedy, but there is also friendship and family. There is also even death, yet we can choose to celebrate life.

And so I celebrated another birthday. It was great, and I realized I am blessed with my own family and friends, both near and far (and of course I missed those who are too far away to be here for such events).

I hope you also have a good year, and when it is time for your birthday, I hope you have a wonderful celebration, no matter how you choose to mark the occasion. :)