In the United States, we don’t have just one tradition for celebrating birthdays. I guess almost everyone has a cake with candles and ice cream. Sometimes there is a party for children with games and small prizes that children can take home. In my family, we usually followed the tradition of letting the “birthday boy/girl” choose their favorite food for dinner. We didn’t have money for lots of presents, but we usually got one medium size gift.
Some of my birthdays stand out in my mind. When I was ten years old, my father gave me a ring with my birthstone (the jewel for the month that I was born in). When I was twelve, my parents took me to an old fashioned movie theater which was very large and had Greek-style columns like it was a Greek temple. We watched the musical, “Music Man”. I can still see scenes from the movie in my mind.
Birthdays do mark landmarks in our lives. I felt very fortunate to celebrate my 60th birthday with friends in China. While I wish my wife had been able to be there too, I especially enjoyed the cake, the karaoke, and the great food with Chinese food and those memories of that celebration are going to stay with me for the rest of my life.
