Published: January 04, 2010 01:17 pm      

Birthday Blessings

Birthdays come and birthdays go — I just had one so I oughtta know!

Yes, I'm one of those unfortunate people whose birthday falls a little more than a week after Christmas. Bummer dude! As a kid I usually got all the good stuff under our tree, and clothes or dainty unmentionables on my birthday. Not that I wasn't in need and happy to get them. I was, and I was! But it was sort of a letdown after the bounties of Christmas.

Looking back, I don't even remember having a birthday until I was in Junior High. Now to some of you that may sound strange, but I want you to know I haven't just blocked out the first dozen or so years of my life. They were wonderful years, full of laughter and love. It's just that we didn't have a lot of money, so my parents never made a big production of our turning a year older. It's quite possible that Mama might have baked a cake, but for the most part, birthdays just slid by unnoticed on the calendar — that is, until we got old enough to realize other kids sometimes celebrated with a big bash (i.e. “pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey, with presents, punch, and balloons.”)

So along about eighth grade, Mama put together a party for my brother, the lucky one whose birthday fell in the Fall, when the weather was not too hot and not too cold, and NOT a week after Christmas! If memory serves me well, I think everyone had a wonderful time of it, even me! After that, birthdays were a happening event at our house. Normally though, they happened around the supper table with just us, a cake, and a gift or two to open.

By the time I started college (and yes, probably to the amazement of all, even folks as country as cornbread were allowed in back then!) Mama had begun to pamper me on “my special day.” That ment I got to pick the supper menu and I always chose breaded and fried oysters, a big green salad, and crusty French bread. Finished off with a tunnel-of-fudge cake, it was a wonderful change from the usual winter fare, and I can still close my eyes and remember how good it tasted!

Now-a-days, kid's birthdays seem to have become elaborate productions, complete with decorations, a guest list of who's who, and a smorgasbord of taste tantalizing goodies. Children are treated to mind boggling, body tiring activities and entertainments. It's just not fair — why couldn't I be a kid again?! Oh well, having sailed past the half century point several years ago, I think it's safe to say that boat has left the dock never to return. But it doesn't matter. Given it all, I would still choose the way we did it way back, when Mama baked my cake with love and let me choose the supper.

This week, as the future begins anew on the calendar as well as for me, I find myself looking back over those forever finished times with contentment. The days of my growing up flowed into years of precious memories, perfected through the lenses of my mind. Back then we were everyday common people, with an uncommon wealth of family love. It was a good way to live the years, and I consider myself blessed by God to have had so many happy birthdays!

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Lois Marie Guymer of East Texas is the author of “Women He touched” and “To hear His voice”. The set can be purchased for $25. Mrs. Guymer can be contacted at 3817 CR 3, Douglass TX, 75943.