Happy Birthday!

Today is my birthday. At 3:14 this afternoon, I will officially be 37 years old. I’ve never been one of those women who worried about saying her age, but that’s probably because I’ve always been seen as looking younger than I actually am. When I was 19, I got carded trying to see a PG13 movie with my cousin. I still remember looking down at my C-cup breasts and the car keys I carried and asking the cashier, “Do you really think I don’t look 13?!?”

That doesn’t mean I don’t worry about those little age-niggling things. I color my hair to hide the few strands of gray that refuse to leave my right temple. I buy the best bras I can to keep my breasts from sinking to my stomach. It’s the little things I keep fighting, as if I really have any control over any of it in the long run.

My birthday tends to be a “take stock” kind of day. I look at my life, and I say, “Life is good.” I see what I have, how many blessings there are, and I smile. Sure, there are tough times. I get depressed over the silliest shit sometimes. And I’m not really happy about the whole getting older thing, though I will never be one of those women who goes to such extremes as plastic surgery or anything like that to counter it. But I like to think of what Jeanne Moreau said, Age does not protect you from love, but love to some extent protects you from age. I figure between my husband and my kids, I should be pretty much set. :)

So even though it’s my birthday, I’m wishing all of you a happy Un-birthday, too! Because every day should be a celebration, no matter what.