Birthday Wish

On January 18th I turned 38 years old.

 I've always loved celebrating birthdays and getting older has never bothered me.

In fact, Oprah's declaration that "life begins at 40" was all the proof I needed that my outlook on birthdays is the correct one. I figure, we should celebrate each year that's given to us cuz, as we all know, tomorrow's not guaranteed. 

Over the years I've encountered many people who feel differently about this matter than I do.

For example:

"Happy birthday Chris! What do you want this year?"

"A dark room and a gun".

And:

"Happy birthday Warren! What are we doing tonight?"

"Not a damn thing. I'm gonna drink until I pass out and forget I'm old as fuck."

And then there's my personal favorite:

"Happy birthday babe! I wish you'd let me take you out, it's your special day! You can have anything you want!"

"Even a sexy Latina dressed in a little French maid's uniform?"

"Will that prevent you from tapping ME on the shoulder at 3:00 a.m. because if it will, I swear to God, Lorenzo, I'd actually consider finding her for you."

As you can see, not everyone's as festive as I am.

But things are different now.

While I still love my birthday I realize that as a mother, I have to celebrate differently than I have in the past.

Gone are the days of celebrating by drinking all night at Good Times while watching the Pats win another playoff game. Gone are the days of having a late dinner at Fire and Ice, where Michele will inevitably tell the waitstaff that it's my birthday, and I will feign surprise when everyone begins to sing.

This year, as I told Lorenzo, I wanted something really special for my birthday.

"I want your credit card, no questions asked, and most importantly, I don't want to see you or Amira for the entire day."

As much as I love my family I so needed a day of not hearing "MOMMY!!!!!" echoing down the hallway. Or, "DIJA!!!!!!" reverberating up the basement stairs.

I just wanted to be alone. And to my great surprise Lorenzo gave me exactly what I wanted.

My phone didn't ring while I was getting waxed at Carmen's.

It didn't ring while I was on the train downtown.

And it didn't ring while I was sweater shopping at H&M.

He was able to handle Amira by himself, for an entire afternoon without needing anything from me.

My birthday was as close to Heaven on earth as I can currently imagine.