/Please give me attention

Thirty-five years ago, on October 5th, at 10:15 a.m. central time, an amazing child was brought into this world.  Unbeknownst to this child, the only time she would be thin would be her birth-weight; 6 pounds, 15 ounces.  And no, she did not round up, because six pounds is important to her.

The stars aligned ever so brightly, creating this wunderkind.  The world would never see anyone like her in her day; she would rule the world with her absolute brilliance and power.

Although her life would be one of struggle, upon entering mid-life, she would find herself in a position where her hard work would finally come to fruition.  She would finally benefit from all the crap she had endured professionally and personally, and become the richest, most powerful woman on the planet.

Her friends would revel in her success, vying for her attention constantly.  She would be surrounded by the best of the best, and she would have all that she ever wanted in life.  She will have fulfilled all of her desires personally and professionally, and her life would finally be one of ease.

I have no idea who that person is.  But, she certainly wasn’t born at the same hospital as me.  Although our paths would be similar, by mid-life, I will have only fulfilled half of my desires.  Not bad, considering. 

My birthday sucks these days.  It’s not my birthday’s fault; it’s mine.  I usually cry for about two weeks before my birthday, lamenting that which I have not achieved.  I spend a good deal of time analyzing where I have been, where I am going, and whether or not I am on track.  Usually, I find myself relatively on track professionally, but nowhere near on track personally.  I guess we truly can’t have it all.

My family does not celebrate birthdays.  We don’t have any kids, really, in the family.  I do have a niece, a step-niece, whom I love dearly.  She is the only legacy my family has.  Otherwise, basically, “the buck stops here” with my brother and I.

Anyhoo, since we are all older now, except my niece, we really don’t celebrate birthdays.  To be fair, when I see my parents, at some point, they will take me to dinner for my birthday.  But mostly, I spend my birthdays alone, since I do not have a significant other, and I don’t have a lot of close friends.  The close friends that I do have live in other cities, or they live close, but travel almost 100% of the time.

It’s kinda like Thanksgiving and Christmas.  I used to have big family gatherings back when my g-parents were alive.  But now, since we are a very small lot, Thanksgiving and Christmas aren’t the same.  If we celebrate them, meaning, a family gathering, it is small, and it saddens me a bit.

A lot of people forget my birthday.  We get busy in our lives, and I certainly don’t expect my friends and acquaintances to remember my birthday.  I guess because my birthday is important to me, I make a special effort to remember my friends’ birthdays.  Of course, since my family is small, it’s easier for me to celebrate my friends’ birthdays, as I don’t have so many to remember.

So, I am throwing this out there, in hopes that you will take pity on me on my birthday, and wish me a happy one on Friday.  Yes, I am overtly trying to garner your sympathy, because I will definitely be down on my birthday.  Maybe I will go out and get a beer on Friday night.  Maybe I will get lucky.  I will need to find the guy who has had the most alcohol to drink, but beggars can’t be choosers…

Happy week to all!

/Please give me attention off