King for a Day

It seems that your parents really make it tough to have Birthdays past your childhood years. I mean, they make such a big deal of your birthday as a kid that it becomes almost impossible to match that joy year after year. But either way, I'm glad. Some of my best childhood moments came when my mom and dad surrounded me by all the friends I wanted to pick to be at my Birthday party.

Everyone came bearing presents, there was a ton of food and cake, and you had everyone you wanted to be there to share it with you. The moments are etched in my head where my father would be taking pictures, and my mother would be holding me around my belly kissing my cheek while I blew out my candles. My grandparents would call from far, far away and they always knew it was my birthday before I did. I got to open all my cards and some of them had a lot of money in them!! But mostly, all I could say is that I felt loved. -Very loved, and looking back, I was very lucky to have that upbringing.

There were other days of the year in my childhood, but March 9th was always mine, and my parents always made sure that I felt like a little Prince, or King for a Day. Of course, this day would only last so long, and I would go to bed being tucked in by both of my parents giving me kisses and asking me if I had a good day.

"It was perfect" I would say, and I would be still so excited that I would lay in bed thinking about my special day. It would take me hours to fall asleep, and when I woke up the next day, I felt another year older.

That's the way every birthday should be...

Birthdays are so special. They take all year to come around, and reward you with yet another year to look forward to. They make you feel special all day long. People wish you Happy Birthday, and even if you don't show it on the outside by downplaying your birthday, deep inside, you will always be a little kid again for the one day of the year where you got to feel like a King/Queen for a Day.

But now that I am older, some of that old magic goes missing. A birthday means yet another year that I creep towards 40. I don't feel my age though. I still think that I am in my mid 20's in the prime of my life, only not as stupid as I was back then.

But then I wake up today, and receive dozens and dozens of well wishes from everyone I know and love, and even from people I wouldn't expect to hear from that took the time to wish me well today. That really does a lot to touch a man's soul. -Even the most unemotional and untouchable man could not deny this.

So that brings me back to writing this, remembering all my family and friends on my birthday. I hear my parents voice on the phone wishing me Happy Birthday, and even though I am far removed from being their young son, I still get those goosebumps for all that they did for me. -For all that they sacrificed for me, so that not just for one day, but for everyday, I could feel like I was King for a Day.

So thank you all for the well wishes. It never ceases to amaze me how many people are great in my life. It never ceases to amaze me how many moments I have to draw from, and how many of you are there in these memories. Rest assured, that if you are wishing me a Happy Birthday, I could tell somebody a story about you. -Maybe not a stand up comedy act, but certainly something that has stood out in my mind that has touched me enough to remember about you. It may be small, it may be big. It may be short, or it could be multiple things I could go on and on about, but rest assured, it has been enough to touch me in my life to remember it. So even when you are not with me, I still have you there with me. That's the beauty of it! I can take you with me wherever I go, and I always do.

So thanks to all of you in my life. It's days like this that makes me realize how rich with love I am, and how surrounded I am by it.

It's just enough to make me feel like King for a Day...