Happy Birthday, Uncle Sam
(that's mine, not yours)
Today my dad's brother celebrates his 80th birthday
80
on
10-08-08
By the way 10+8+8 = 26
And, 2+6 = 8
Last night we had corn beef and cabbage with cooked carrots and potatoes for dinner. Why? Because when my thoughtful, thoughtful, husband and I were dating, I told him of a Kamhi (my maiden name) family tradition. Each year on our birthdays we got to chose the dinner menu of our choice, regardless of how simple (mom = bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken, Ellen = Bacon lettuce, and tomato sandwiches) or how elaborate (me = corn beef and cabbage with Grey Poupon mustard) the choice may have appeared. Or, no matter how little anyone else in the house liked it (dad = blue fish) or how... wacky (Ann = pancakes and eggs) the request might have seemed. On your birthday, you and your taste buds ruled the roost. And so it goes, even 40 years later.
That's not the only family tradition I remember. The other thing I remember is how you hoped your birthday landed on a school day. Yes, if you were lucky enough to have your birthday land on a school day, you were lucky enough to score a serving of junk food.
I should stop here to tell you my parents are kind of health food fanatics. Wheat germ, shredded wheat, nuts, whole grains, lots of fish, broccoli, plain yogurt, apple sauce, and for dessert... fruit cocktail, with an occasional shortbread cookie. School lunches were precisely this: One sandwich - either turkey, ham, or roast beef on wheat bread, cut in half, and neatly placed in wax paper bags; 1 small container of Mott's Apple Juice rolled in tin foil and packed neatly next to the sandwiches; 1 piece of fruit, usually an apple or banana; and a small box of Sun Maid Raisins on top. All of this was carefully placed in a doubled brown paper bag, with crisp edges, neatly folded over, and our names written in black marker.
Oh, but on your birthday!!!!! On your birthday it was a whole new ball game. The sandwich and the fruit remained, but... the apple juice was replaced with a CAN OF COKE and the raisins were replaced with either a Ring Ding or a Twinkie! All topped off with a small wrapped treat and a happy birthday message. Yes, life was especially good on your birthday.
This stroll down memory lane does two things... One, it reinforces the importance of little things, over and above elaborate gestures, when it comes to being memorable in the lives of someone else. Two, it makes me wonder what new birthday tradition we can dream up right here at highlowaha. Today we will be Imagineers. We will put on our creative thinking caps and develop a brand new birthday tradition so irresistible all will want to adopt it.
We'll use this whack to get us started.
Find A Pattern. Poet Alexander Pope: "Order is heav'n's first law. Much of what is called "intelligence" is our ability to recognize this order in the form of patterns. We recognize cycles (plankton yields conform to a strict four year boom-and-bust cycle), sequences (the order in which you put on your clothes), processes (how to convert flour, eggs, and milk into waffles), tendencies (cracks in dried mud usually form 120 degree angles), shapes (the stars that make up the constellation Leo), similarities (stellar galaxies and water emptying in a tub spiral in the same way), behaviors (etiquette on a crowded bus), and probabilities (the likelihood of throwing a "seven" at a crap table). What patterns do you detect? How can you use them to better understand your idea?
So let's have fun with this. What fun birthday tradition (kid's or adult) can we create right here on Highlowaha?
Announcements:
- Halloween Activity: Today's Beeny Family Halloween Activity is... Today we will wrap ourselves like mummies in toilet paper. And since I've forgotten to post for the past few days... yesterday... play a round of "killer" at the dinner table, and Monday... enjoy a candy apple for dessert.
- What Happens in Vegas... Thanks again for playing along yesterday. The winners of yesterday's gambling were AZLori (who won a favorite candy bar from each player) and Julie who won a pot of $18.90. Below are the addresses you need to make good on your antes. AZLori - 645 S. Doege Street, Gilbert, AZ 85233; and Julie S. - 24 Orchard Place, Apt. 205, Bradford, PA 16701.
- Trick or Treat: Remember, Friday I am hoping we are all going to share a favorite Halloween trick or treat that you've seen in a store. Maybe a decoration, a new baking or cooking tool, or a new holiday craft item. Ideally you will be able to share the item and the price.
- Blog-a-thon: Still kickin'
Signing off until tomorrow...
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15 comments:
I've read the blog today, but much like usual on "whacky wednesdays" it takes me some time to process and come up with an appropriate response.
I will say that I like the idea of doing a RAK in someone's honor on their birthday but I don't know that I'm whacking the idea there using the concepts provided.
I'll work on something.
The pattern that I detect is that the traditions we normally have are all things we know about ahead of time. I always knew that I would have my dinner of choice on my birthday. I know that my grandmother will call me and as soon as I say "hello" she will begin to sing happy birthday to me. As much as I love those traditions, they were all things I knew to expect. I guess with traditions, you would have to know what they are, otherwise they would never become a tradition.
However, I feel like this is where part of what Heather is talking about comes in. That's a way of building a tradition, but it might change from year to year. This year someone does a RAK in your honor, next year they might help build a Habitat for Humanity house in your honor, etc.
My brain is not totally functioning yet, so I'll give this more thought during my morning (I'm off to my staff meeting) and then I'll come back and share more.
Haven't thought it completely through yet but maybe something along the lines of a last day of being (42, in Claudia's case) celebration. So the day before someones birthday you would celebrate the fact that this is the last day of their _____ year. People could give a Good bye to ____card and list all the great memories they had of that year with that person. Maybe they can list a wish for a fun activity with that person for the next year...road trip, show, concert, RAK, pedicure/manicure, breakfast, lunch, dinner etc...doesn't have to be major!
Lori...I like it.
I saw a person who did a photo of his kids on the last day of their year...so he had a series of, I thought it was a neat way to capture the last chance they had to be 1, 2, 3, 4, and so on along with all the things those ages mean.
I don't remember any traditions growing up. I remember having some birthday parties and I remember I used to make and decorate my own cakes when I got old enough.
I know it's hard to tell but I actually experience a lot of social anxiety. I feel it when I have to throw my boys parties. Where do we have it? Who do we invite? What do we do? ayh! Will they have fun? And so on. It's stressful for me. Being divorced complicates it further because I don't always have them on their birthday. And, I want to be fair. I want them to be with their dad, too.
So, let me think on what new birthday tradition we can create. And I will come back.
Lori...
I really like where you are going with your whack. Here's what I have been noodling around.
Unlike a holiday, let's say like Christmas, birthdays are a celebration of an individual.
If we are of similar mindset, maybe you believe that every person comes to the table with a particular set of gifts and talents. With a little luck, hopefully life circumstances are such that each of us is in some way sunk up with our talents and positioned so we can share them with the world around us.
So, if everyone is good at something and birthdays are a celebration of individual people, how can we use birthdays to celebrate a person's contribution to his or her world?
That's as far as I've gotten. Someone, feel free to take it from there.
To Lori's point... If there can be a Christmas Eve and, even better, a New Year's Eve (to celebrate the ringing in of a new year), why can't there be a Birthday Eve?
Claudia, your comment on celebrating the individual made me think of something a friend of mine used to do in high schoool. She was, and still is, into "un-birthdays". She would pick a random day of the year to celebrate your "un-birthday". Your card would say Happy un-Birthday, you might get a balloon with the phrase "un" in front of birthday, there was sometimes a cake, etc. It was a day to celebrate the individual for who they are without having to feel like their birthday was the only day to do that!
That does not necessarily whack the traditions of how a birthday is celebrated, but is a fun way to recognized an individual not on their birthday.
Here's one that a guy I use to know did: On his son's birthday, he would send his wife flowers to thank her for having his child. I always thought that was so sweet. Perhaps on our own birthdays, we could send our moms flowers to thank them for giving birth to us.
Also, my mom is carrying on a tradition with my children that her grandmother started when she was a kid. On each of my kids' b-days, she not only gives the b-day child a gift but a small one to each of the other grandchildren.
I'm on a time crunch here so...
What about one balloon for each year? I write in chalk on the drive way (new tradition). A birthday wreath put up when someone in the family is celebrating a birthday.
there are many cultural traditions that celebrat a specific birthday... sweet 16. What if every year had a name? I vote for Fabulous 40 instead of Over the Hill 40.
Lucian turned seven months old yesterday (on the 7th), for whatever that's worth in the little numbers game. And CKB, I hope you got the birthday flair I sent you on Facebook. I was thinking about you on your big day!
I like the idea of celebrating half-birthdays... and it's an especially nice tradition for people whose birthdays fall around the holidays, since they are sometimes forgotten altogether or combined with other gift-giving occasions that make the birthday feel less special. It also lets everyone have a little celebration in a completely different time of year and season than the time and season of their actual birthday. Not sure if that has anything to do with a pattern, but whatever.
Along the lines of Claudia's birthday meal... now that my kids are older, they have the options for their birthday...
special meal or they get to choose the restaurant
and they get to choose what type of dessert or cake they want... not everyone is in the mood for cake.
I've also seen people create a birthday plate that was made at one of those ceramic decorate and fire your own, that is actually the birthday plate... so the person having a birthday gets to eat all their meals that day... on the special birthday plate. Plus pictures have to be taken with the plate.
You could also start a tradition of signing a birthday only table cloth that is used from year to year... or make one of those special folders like Claudia introduced on filing a year in the life... that keeps mems of birthday cards received, pictures and little antidotes of the day.
Peggy... oooohhhhh.... I love the idea of a birthday table cloth that people could write on with fabric pens. You could use it each year of the person's birthday.
Eventually it would turn into a really great heirloom. Years and years of well wishes on a beautiful table cloth!
I'm going to get on that idea, right away!
CKB
I've been thinking about this on and off today as I dealt with a myriad of other things.
Something about savoring those last few minutes or last day of the year past feels very HLA to me. Think of it this way.
We live our lives wishing away today in hopes of what will come tomorrow. For our children we "can't wait till they walk, talk, play sports, graduate, go to college, get married, on and on" for ourselves we "can't wait till the weekend, till vacation, till our lunch meeting, etc...".
I think part of the Spirit of 218 is that we begin to cherish and savor each day and how we can use it. Since I'm approaching a birthday let's take this...I can take Saturday to savor my last day of being 28...celebrate the things it meant and cherish the memories I made during the year past rather than wishing the day away and for my birthday to arrive.
I like it and I think I'll do it.
Fun fact of the day: I just went to starbucks to get some coffee (yes, it's just been one of those days) and they were quizzing people on GRE vocab words. Each customer was given a word and if they knew the definition they got a free cookie. I wasn't able to give my word a definition just by seeing the word, but after they used it in a sentence, I was able to give the definition. Unfortunately, no free cookie for me! However, I thought it was great and was building some community at the campus Starbucks!
Its kind of late but I figured I would post anyway. Our tradition was that on our birthday we always got to choose our favorite dinner. Mine was Chicken and Rice. It is no longer my favorite meal but it is my sons. My favorite has become anything that I dont have to cook. My mom would always make us a cake for our birthday. She NEVER baked so it was a treat. I always decorate my kids rooms while they sleep. I go into their rooms at exactly midnight and crawl into their beds and hug and kiss them and tell them how much I love them. I know it sounds corny but the love it as much as I do. I make their favorite dinner and get them a "Cold Stone Creamery" cake of their choice. I also make them cupcakes for their class in school and send goody bags. I only give parties until they are 10. They have had some awesome parties (very costly too). Melissa's best party ever was at American Girl in NYC. Michaels was at an amusement park and Krysten spent her favorite birthday in Disney. I think her best party is going to be her Sweet 16. Now that they are done with parties I invite their best friend and take them to lunch at the restaurant of their choice and we go to a movie afterwards.
I think a great birthday tradition would be to post the persons birthday about a week before and let each of us find something of interest that happened on that day.... it could be either the same year or a different one. I dont know much about my birthday except that I was born and what the top song of the day was.
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