“You say it’s your birthday, it’s my birthday too yeah…” -The Beatles-
My cousin was born when I was fifteen. I remember the first thought that popped into my head when I was told that she'd been born was that when she turned fifteen, I'd be thirty. That was in 1998. And so, in September she will turn fifteen and this week I turn thirty. Growing up, the thought of someone being thirty meant that they were old. Getting here I find it's not as old as I used to think. As a fifteen year old I had no idea where my life was going, or even where I wanted it to go. But if you had told me that I'd be living in Uganda doing mission/aid work, I don't think I would have believed you.
So in case you missed it, it's my birthday this week. And I'm turning thirty. A milestone, right? There have been lots of memorable birthdays over the past 29 years. Last year I happened to be staying with some friends in Redding, California. We had a breakfast with lots of yummy food including fresh blackberries that we'd picked ourselves. I think I loved that birthday a lot. Casual, not too much fuss. In 2008 I had arrived back in Australia on July 31st after my first trip to Uganda. On the 2nd of August my brother got married. I remember going out for lunch the next day for my birthday in a jetlag/ post wedding haze. I remember my 21st. A barbie at mum and dad's place which was a joint 18th with my brother. In June. My sister, my parents and I were headed off to travel Australia and were going to miss mine and Andy's birthday so we decided to celebrate a little bit early. For my 18th my Pastor and friend Maureen made me an amazing chocolate mud cake. I don’t remember my 17th birthday. I remember my 16th birthday going out for coffee and cake at Café Buongiorno on Goodwood Road with my friends from school. I remember for my 10th birthday my mum made this amazing cake which we still have the top of. My 6th birthday was particularly memorable as we went to Pizza Hut and I had an icecream cake. Other birthday memories include year after year of various 'Australian Women's Weekly Children's Birthday Cake Book' birthday cakes, my all time favourite being the swimming pool filled with green jelly. Barbies, clothes, books, jewellery, money, toys, sets of letter writing paper, paints, bikes, notebooks. Presents of various types with varying degrees of thankfulness depending on their perceived usefulness (when packing for Uganda may have given away sets of letting writing paper that I received at around the age of eight). Party pies, frankfurts, party hats, lolly bags, balloons, cakes, candles, singing Happy Birthday, photos, dinner out, friends, family, celebration.
I was born on the third of August, 1981, sometime early in the morning. I know the dates of the birthdays of all my siblings, of my parents, my grandparents, some of my cousins, lots of my friends. Birthday's, it seems, are important.
I was talking to Moses the other day and he was saying that he didn't celebrate a birthday until he became friends with a certain group of people and it became part of what they did. Many kids here don't know the year they were born, let alone the date. And asking their parents doesn't necessarily reveal the answer. I heard a teacher telling some students who had to fill out forms for their P7 exams that even if their parents didn't know when they were born and did not have a birth certificate they should try and work out which year it was and then choose a date and stick with it. Forms with different birth dates from the same person make it difficult to get formal ID cards or passports. Imagine that. Just deciding arbitrarily when you were born. Birthdays are certainly not celebrated here by the greater population in the same way that I have grown up with.
Everyone cutting Moses’ birthday cake earlier this year – for those who were wondering if they have cakes in Africa
It makes me wonder if we place too much importance on it. After all what do we really celebrate birthday's for? Why do we have all the presents and pressure? Why are they a right of passage? What makes that day so different from the one before it or the one that will follow? You can argue that it's a special time to celebrate with family and friends. But can't you do that anytime? Why isolate our love and care for others to birthdays? What if we didn’t celebrate birthdays but instead acted towards our friends and family like it was their birthday everyday? Treat everyone as if it was their special day, encouraging and uplifting them, giving them gifts as we see they need them or as we feel?
Just a thought. However, my plan is to celebrate my birthday by cooking up an Aussie feast (including spag bog - because seriously, what is 'Aussie food'?) and sharing the Tim Tams I received last week with everyone at home and teaching them how to do a Tim Tam Slam.
HOPE you all have a blessed week
bron
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