My Birthday

The way I spent my birthday varied remarkably little for 24 years. My birthday is December 27, two days after Christmas. This is usually around the time my dad's side of the family gathers to celebrate Christmas. With few exceptions, my birthday went something like this:

Wake up in the basement at my Grandparent's house in Wheeling, WV to the sound of at least ten relatives moving around and eating breakfast upstairs. Usually, I would be the second to last person in the house to wake up (my sister Laura would probably be last). Then I'd walk up the basement stairs into the kitchen where lots of relatives would wish me happy birthday. While I eat breakfast, if my parents are there, my relatives might recollect how everyone gathered at my parents' house in Reynoldsburg, Ohio and ate fried chicken when I came home from the hospital.

Throughout the day, more relatives and their dogs would probably arrive. My dad is one of six and there are ten in my generation, so it's a pretty big gathering with 20 people at a minimum. Usually after our potluck lunch, Grammy would bring out my angelfood birthday cake. It was always angelfood so my diabetic cousin could eat it too. A quarter wrapped in foil (usually from 1981) was always hidden in the cake. It was good luck to get the quarter in your slice! After I opened my gifts the cousins would go off and pay in the basement for a while. Pillow fights or the like on the cushion of matresses on the floor.

Later in the afternoon, usually before dinner, we opened Christmas presents. One of my cousins or aunts would probably play carols on the baby grand piano while others sang along. After dark, we would drive to Oglebay Park in Wheeling to see the impressive display of Christmas lights throughout the park.

Variations:
We might spend a good part of my birthday in the car driving to Wheeling.
If my birthday fell on a Sunday (like when I was born), then everyone went to my grandparents' church (unless the above also applied).
Sometimes Christmas was celebrated on Dec 26 or 28. But since it is a long drive from Chicago to Wheeling, WV my immediate family always stuck around for a while.

In short, Chirstmas and my birthday have been celebrated together with my extended family for most of my 25 years, often on the same day.

Needless to say, my 25th birthday was completely different. Having spent the night at the Auckland Friends Center, I woke up at 3:45 am (even though my alarm was set for 4:30) to pick up Matt from the airport. Lu (our car) had some dead battery issues shortly before and I prayed she would start without fail at 4:35 am (she did). At the airport I counted over 500 people that went by while I waited for Matt to come through customs at 5 am. Matt arrived safely, but his checked bag containing our Christmas and my birthday gifts did not. His first flight from DC to SF was late, and he barely made it onto his SF to Auckland flight. His bag didn't make it at all.

We drove back to the Auckland Friends Center and had a great breakfast with Bill Buskirk and Jay Roberts (Earlham professors) and the Friends Center hosts. We decided to do a little sight seeing on our way south with Bill and Jay, so we followed them to Rotorua where I showed them the cool city park I explored on my own a few weeks before. Bill birded his way through the park while the rest of us tried to glean some ornithological knowledge from his greatness.


We had a horrible time finding a place in Rotorua that was still open for lunch at 2:30, but we eventually did. Afterwards we parted ways with Bill and Jay. On our way out of town Matt and I stopped to look at a map and I left the headlights on (it was raining). The car battery was dead in 10 minutes. So, Matt pushed while I popped the clutch in 2nd gear and she started right up! This was my first (but not last) time roll starting a car. It was much easier than I imagined!

We spent the night in Lu at a free campground I read about near Taupo. This picture shows our nice parking spot right along the clear blue Waikato River.

There was no birthday cake or candles, and just one gift to open from Matt (a night at the Auckland Observatory when we return), but it was great. It was definitely the first time I was able to wear a skirt and short sleeved shirt on my birthday!

At 25, I have more than a few white hairs that run the length of my hair. I found my first grey hair when I was 18 during my first month at Earlham. I blame high school and genetics. At this rate I think I might be totally grey (or hopefully white) by 45. I guess I should dye my hair. What do you think?

Carrie