Welcome to my first blog!  I just had a birthday.  And as a woman of a certain age, I am not going to tell you what number.  But this was my first birthday without my husband, who left me last year. 

This year, there was nobody to make my day special.  In the past my husband would make a reservation for dinner at a restaurant of my choosing.  There were gifts from him, and from the dogs.  At the end of the day, he would always say, I hope you had a good birthday.  And I always did.

So, my question today is how do you celebrate your birthday?  I was torn between not doing anything, pretending it was just another day. Or making a big deal out of it, to honor myself.  To celebrate me.  To remind myself that I am still special and that I should not need somebody else to show me that.

Does celebrating yourself on your birthday seem pompous or childish?  I had a Zumba instructor who celebrated for an entire month.  Another woman said if we make such a big deal out of a child’s first birthday party which they won’t even remember, surely someone of our age deserves a big party.

I thought about things that make me happy (which is of short supply these days) and that is what I did.  It consisted of a doughnut for breakfast, a browse in a bookstore, a walk in a beautiful park with my rescue dog Bella, and an agility training class with Bella because that makes her happy and when she’s happy I’m happy.   Lastly, dinner with my best friend who I met in a divorce support group who is in a similar boat as me and who I would not have made it through the past year without.  We ate at a restaurant overlooking the river and ended with bananas foster desert flambeed at our table. 

I am also blessed to have sisters and many friends who reached out to me via text, phone call or cards. 

So, did I have a good birthday?  I did.