by Trent Rosser
Back in August, I wrote about my "special birthday" for my sobriety date. But this past week, I celebrated my actual birthday. Yep, the day that I came into this most amazing world. Many, many years ago, in a small hospital in Midland, I was born. If you ask my parents, they would say "On this date, the devil himself opened the gates of hell and delivered a little demon to my mother!" If you ask what I remember about Midland, I would say absolutely nothing. The only thing I remember is when we visited my grandparents there and Dennis the Menace park. This was before they moved to the small town of Rogers and I am not sure that I was past 2nd grade. So, according to my birth certificate, Midland is where I was hatched. According to my parents, Midland is where the spawn of Satan himself was hatched. I have arrived!
So, this year, I was thinking of all the presents that I have had on my past birthdays. My 16th year birthday I will never forget. It was not filled with lots of presents like Christmas, but instead it was only two things from my father. Shaving cream with a razor and a Marlin .22 magnum bolt action rifle. Seemed like every weekend we were headed out to the country. He had some land at Valle De Oro and we shot our guns there. I was always asking him to buy more ammo and we bonded that way. I believe it was a great present for a young man's coming of age. Now don't get too upset, I have my beliefs and I will throw my two cents into the gun debate very soon.
Presents are always good for birthdays, but sometimes it is just spending time with family that people crave. I have myself and three other family members have birthdays in the month of February and one in January. We used to all meet out at a favorite restaurant for the person's birthday. We would all eat and talk and rib the birthday boy or girl. Beginning of the month, we would eat at Outback Steakhouse and then a few days later it would be Red Lobster and then of course, on my birthday it was Texas Roadhouse. But, as with all things in life, nothing stays the same. We do not meet, but we still try to get together. Unfortunately, it doesn't always work out, so we settle for a phone call.
Now, just because we start to get a little older does not mean that we cannot still have fun. Last year, my mother knew exactly how old I was on my birthday, but the two years before, I had her convinced that I was about two years younger than what I really was. It was fun pulling the charade. She would be telling a story about something and then stop in mid-sentence to ask again, "are you sure that's how old you are?"
"Yes, mom! I think I know how old I am!" I would reply.
Then, on the way out the door, I would tell her the truth of how many birthdays I really have had. I would then give her a hard time saying, "You know this. You were there!" I tried it on my father a couple of times, but he didn't fall for it.
My wife's birthday is in August. As some of you know, I took her to see "Texas" in Palo Duro Canyon. We went and ate, then took off to see the play. I was able to distract her and sign her up for the birthday call, so they would announce her birthday during intermission. Unfortunately, me being in a hurry, I did the unthinkable. You guessed it, when they announced her birthday, they also announced her age! Did you know that it is exactly 25.2 miles from the canyon to downtown Amarillo? It's also impossible to get a cab to come all that way. I was very close to walking home! She still had a good birthday though.
I often think I'm pretty lucky to have a birthday in February. One of my grandmothers' birthdays was the day after Christmas. Now, forgive me if I'm wrong, but that would suck as a kid. You wouldn't know if it was a birthday or Christmas present. If you had siblings, that would be even worse. You get to see them open presents during Christmas and then months later, open even more, all the while you are stuck opening presents just once a year. But then again, when I was younger, I received presents on my brother's birthday as well as he received presents on my birthday. Guess our dad didn't want us to start any fights. Of course, that changed as we got older.
This year, as with most years, I will have to work on my birthday. My wife is off, so I will be able to spend the morning with her. We will not be going out to eat and she will not be getting me a fancy present. Instead, I will be driving her crazy singing (in a deep voice) "You say it is your birthday! Boom bam boom boom! Well it my birthday too yea!" I will torture her with me singing for a little bit and then head to work. When I come home, I will head straight to bed. I am getting older and needing all the beauty sleep I can get. I also decided that I will no longer have birthdays. They will be anniversaries. After all, it is hard to celebrate my 26th anniversary of my 21st birthday.
I know it's cheesy, but it's a lot better than walking around in my birthday suit. Especially, being the spawn of Satan.
