Author: Henry L.

This year, my twin brother and I hit a significant milestone…the big 3-0! Some people hate getting older and dread the attention that often comes with this sort of milestone birthday, but I’m cool with it. As the old cliché goes, age is just a number, right? Besides, birthdays are perfect excuses to have fun with friends and family…and be showered with gifts and personalized birthday cards…and eat!

I usually wind up celebrating my birthday for an extended period of time. It’s not that I clamor for the attention – in fact, I hate being in the limelight! That’s just the way it works out with the different plans that are made. This year was no exception.

The festivities started a week before my actual birthday when my husband and I threw a party at our house. Thankfully, the weather cooperated and it was an absolutely gorgeous day. It being our 30th birthday, my mom wanted to do something special in honor of my brother and I, so she displayed a poster board collage of photos from our younger days. She even attached one of our baby photos to wine bottles as favors for our guests. My sister, the jokester that she is, gave me a gift bag full of various items – 30 to be exact, and all of them pink! Even the birthday card she gave me was pink. You see, when my twin brother and I were younger, we were of course clothed in blue and pink respectively. After years of having the color pink forced upon me, I rebelled and refused to wear it!

The next week brought more fun activities, as well as mailed birthday cards from friends and family who live farther away. At work, my department brought in delicious goodies, beautiful flowers, and business birthday cards for me to enjoy. Then my real birthday finally came! My husband and I met up with three of our closest friends to go to a Global Green Expo at Liberty State Park. All of us are environmentally conscious and we enjoyed seeing the different exhibits and demonstrations. That night, we also went out for dinner at my favorite Mexican restaurant. We rounded out the weekend with yet another birthday party at my grandparents’ house, where we also celebrated Orthodox Easter (my dad’s side of the family is Russian Orthodox).

As a birthday present to myself, I decided to take two days off from work to relax and do whatever I please! After finally cleaning up the last of the lingering aftermath from our party the weekend before, sloth was the name of the game: I lounged on the couch, watched TV, read a book and did mostly nothing. I also treated myself to a massage, which was bliss!

Alas, all good things must come to an end and it was time for me to go back to work and return to my normal routine. I’m a few pounds heavier from all the wonderful food I indulged in, but all in all it was a fantastic birthday. It felt good to receive so many birthday cards, some of the greeting cards filled with money or gift cards (nice!) And I still have one more birthday gift to enjoy: my best friend is taking me to a glassblowing class in a few weeks, so I guess my birthday will be extended just a bit longer!