I looooooooooove my birthday. I am a June baby through and through. Minnesota explodes with gorgeousness in June and I can pretend it is for ME. I don’t put any kind of stake in astrology, I promise, but the description of the Gemini… well, she is me. Give me all the attention, all the love, all the public embarrassment of singing the song to me in huge groups. I’ll blush and roll my eyes and I will be loving it.
I was contemplating my many (MANY) birthday celebrations today, and there are several that figure prominently in my memories. One year, my mom threw me a Birthday Tea, and we got to use my grandma and great-grandma’s teacup collection. There were dainty sandwiches and lemonade out of a china teapot, and everybody had to construct a fancy hat out of paper plates and construction paper and ribbon. It was amazing.
My 13th birthday took place during the run of the play, The Wizard of Oz… which was, in turn, in the middle of our town’s Judy Garland Festival. (Judy was born in my hometown, read more here.) I played Dorothy for 10 sold-out performances, one of which was on my birthday. During curtain call, the orchestra struck up the song, and I was serenaded by cast and audience together. I was reminded of this feeling a few years ago, when my wonderful women’s group — Sisters in Song — was asked to sing a concert that happened to land on my birthday. Hot tip: need a birthday gift for me? Get me an audience!
In the weeks leading up to my 14th birthday, my two best friends and I were trying to figure out how we would see the boys we liked over the summer, what with the lack of 1) school, 2) play rehearsal, and 3) driver’s licenses. We decided the best solution was to throw me a birthday party. A surprise birthday party. Yes, Mom and Dad, I was entirely aware of all aspects of that party before it happened. However, I was still unprepared for how incredible it felt to have friends that would put in that much work to celebrate me. That was real. (And many cute boys attended! Success!)
Birthday #18 landed on a Saturday, two weeks after graduation, so my mom decided to combine my grad party and birthday party into one. The invitations were flyers that had “Liberation Day!” plastered across my senior photo. I had two cakes — one green with daisies for my birthday and one blue and black (I think? Were those our class colors? Why didn’t we just stick with orange and black?) for my graduation. It was a fun day, made even more memorable by the TV showing OJ Simpson’s white Bronco cruise down an LA highway.
Birthdays after leaving home are varied and odd — I’d be home for the summer but have to work, or I’d have to work down in the Cities and come home on the next weekend. I do remember my 21st birthday at my parents’ house being alcohol-themed: I received pint glasses and hard cider, and my mom took a photo of me opening a bottle of wine… and we all pretended I hadn’t drunk many, many pints of beer with her 6 months earlier in England. (I celebrated with The Girls a couple of weeks later, and that’s all we will say about that.)
Meeting Dan invigorated the birthday energy. We quickly discovered that we liked birthday celebrations to be event-based: plays or concerts, sight-seeing, weekends away, and lots of adventure. We are still trying to honor this part of our marriage, though it did take a bit of a dip when the kids were small. Dan is a Birthday Wizard, however, and always makes me feel special and celebrated in ways large and small. Whether he and the kids are locking me in the basement while they prepare surprises, or conspiring with my mother to plan surprise parties for my 30th and 40th (Real ones! I honestly didn’t know! You could tell because when Dan pulled our minivan into the park with all of my friends standing around with balloons on my 30th birthday, I hit him pretty darn hard on the arm!) , or that time he bought me a toilet as a birthday present, Dan ensures that I have all the attention my little heart desires.
For the past few years, I have signed up to be a member of a review committee for the MN Department of Education during my birthday week. I know — how adult and responsible of me! It doesn’t make for a thrilling birthday day, except that every time we are given a break, I get to read texts and messages from all of my loved ones all over the world. This one day of the year, all of these people stop and think about me for a minute or two. How amazing is that?
Thanks for reading.
Love, Susie
HBD Susie! You are a treasure!
I am old because I remember you as Dorothy.🥰