Reverb is a way to reflect on the past year and project into the next year with a prompt a day for 31 days. The point is to remember, revisit, reframe, reexamine the past year and share stories.
Prompt: How did you celebrate the passage of another year? Did it turn out the way you had hoped?
In short, it did not turn out how I hoped. Kind of... Okay, well let me back up. When I was growing up, the tradition in our home was that the birthday kid (or adult) gets to pick dinner. It doesn't matter what anyone had to make or go out for, that was it. And some special gifts. But birthdays were much more for us about who remembered and making us feel special than about the gifts.
When I married my husband, I learned for him that birthdays were not necessarily special. So we sometimes struggle with... matching expectations. I don't need (or expect) him to drop everything and dote on me and make my birthday the BEST DAY EVER, but I do loves birthdays...
This year, the month before my birthday I was in Israel. So with the cost of that, I didn't expect anything lavish or even any gifts. But then I was also laid-off. So everything went right out the window. Spending any money on anything seemed silly and irresponsible. Honestly - I don't even remember what we did for my birthday. I DID, however, get a job offer on my birthday. And 10 days later I was working again. And a few weeks later I was in Vegas with my family celebrating my cousin's birthday so I got a little special time, too.
Looking back it sounds a little sad, but in that moment I wasn't that sad. I have had enough travels and other special moments to make up for it. And next year for my birthday, I'll get to spend it with a brand new nephew. It's getting less sad, and more about how the meaning of birthdays is changing to me. I'm now at the age where I get carded less and less, and my actual age means less to me than the decade I'm still in. I'm sure that will change in the next few years, but for now... I'm simply at peace with the birthday situation.
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