So, I guess for my first birthday out of the country it was decent. Some of the highlights... The night before my birthday some friends sang happy birthday to me in at least three different languages at the same time (Czech, Mongolian and Japanese). Then Wednesday evening I went out for drinks with some of the Fantasticks cast before practice. Which then led to the four of us being late and slightly tipsy for rehearsal. Oops. One of the ladies from the play made me cupcakes and so the cast sang Happy Birthday to me and we devoured cup cakes. And, the other lady who is doing tech crew with me brought me a bottle of wine. After wine and cupcakes most of the cast and I went to go watch a jazz jam session at The Square. The band even started one of their jams with Happy Birthday. I ended up going home early because I was tired and being a butt. The end of my birthday was pretty good, but it was just a really long, tiring day.
It's challenging to figure out how to celebrate when you can't use any of the traditions you've used in the past. This is less for birthdays, although still applicable for lots of holidays and celebrations. It's not the just the date that makes a day special, it's everything else that happens before and during that little black number on a calendar. Is it really a birthday without cake and presents, friends and family? If no one sings happy birthday, how can it be a happy birthday?
And, then there's Christmas. Because I tend to think that organized religion is a bunch of phooey, Christmas is not completely about the angels and wise men for me. It's about people being nicer to each other. It's about getting together with friends and family and appreciating the good things in life and the past year. It's about believing in the impossible whether it is Santa Clause or peace on earth or flying deer or good will towards all men. For one brief blink in time the impossible seems possible. It's about having faith in people again. About believing that good things can and do happen. It's about showing that you care about somebody, letting them know that they matter.
Of course it's also about Christmas cookies, and pie, and Christmas movies, and making wreathes at your grandparents house, and decorating the tree, Christmas music, and waking up at 4:00 in the morning to sneak downstairs before your parents wake up. Even at 21, I had to set an alarm to wake up before my mom to sneak downstairs. Although I'm pretty sure that she was already awake. What is Christmas without that overwhelming scent of pine that will always bring me back to my grandparents workshop when I would help them build wreaths? What is Christmas without phone calls from family and text messages from friends wishing a Merry Christmas? What is Christmas Eve without Scrooge and snacking all day? What is Christmas without a tree?
I suppose it will have to be an opportunity for new traditions. For making new friends into family.
