Birthday's means different things to different people. To some folks birthdays are THE day. They are the one day of the year that is just about that person. To others, its just another day. For some, its a milestone to be achieved or even endured.
For me, my own birthday has meant all of these things and more. I am the only child of an only child. I have a brother and a sister, but not from my Mother, and my Mother had siblings, but not from the same Father. So, though we had siblings, we were still only children. For each of us, it meant starkly different things. In the beginning it was similar, though. We were both well loved, youngest children, who were given as much as our parents could offer us. In my Mom's case, that wasn't much, but she was loved. But as we grew older we took starkly different paths. Both of us were shy children. I can hear those that know me laughing, but it was true. My Mom was not encouraged out of her shyness, but allowed to become more reclusive as a child and even into teen years. I, spurred on by a mother who wasn't going to allow that to happen again, was pushed to do things, even things I didn't like. She would say, "Just try it, if you don't like it you can quit."
So I did 4-H, Brownies, played volleyball, basketball, took horseback riding lessons, did competition rollerskating, raised rabbits, choir, band, the list goes on. Sports were not my thing, of course, but that is a story for another time.
The point of all of this is, that my Mom made my life special, every day, not just on my birthday. She pushed me to do things and broke me out of my shell. Do I still have moments of shyness, even now? Sure I do. But that confident woman she she striding across a room at a networking event and giving a firm hand shake to a perfect stranger, an executive, or even the Mayor of Muncie, didn't just pop out of the womb that way.
So tomorrow, as I celebrate my birthday and this weekend as I think on Mother's Day, I will consider how two only children changed their lives, with the grace of God and became more than we thought we ever could be.
Marking the day and Marking the time.
