Golfing in Phoenix – photo taken by the author
“Today you are you! That is truer than true! There is no one alive who is you-er than you!”
– Dr. Seuss
John Lennon writes in his song, “Happy Christmas”:
Another year over / And a new one just begun
This is true for me, as in this case it relates to my birthday. I am a spring-baby and April is my birthday month. This month in particular brings with it the reassuring promise that winter is coming (emphasis on ‘finally’) to a close and the much-needed season’s of spring and summer are right around the corner. April is a month that very clearly distinguishes seasons; that is, it is marked by the end of one season and the arrival of another of nature’s finest. Of course, my birthday follows The Master’s, which being the greatest golf tournament of the year, is played at the same course every year at Augusta National GC, in Augusta, Georgia. I love the time of the year and the month that I was born.
The anticipation of a birthday can be quite profound as well. This is what it’s been like for me all along. It’s always been a teeter-totter experience between the feeling’s of excitement & nervousness. On one hand it’s exciting because of everything that a birthday resembles. On the other hand, it’s a nervous kind of feeling as I don’t really know exactly what to expect. And so the countdown begins about a month or so before my actual birthday, and then a few weeks out, followed by that one week to go, and then the coming days leading up to the night before my special day. I really can’t explain this except that it seems to occur every year.
After all, I had no control of my entry into this world and I certainly could not have picked the day of my arrival. However, the day seems to get packed with all the wonderful, heart-warming, and very cool cards, texts, Facebook birthday wishes, phone calls, etc I may receive on this particular day. It’s a very anticipatory and expectant time, even if I don’t know what I’m expectant of. It’s kind of like Christmas Day as a kid growing up. When the day does finally arrive you’re besides yourself, after hardly sleeping the night before, and full of anticipation of what the day might bring; of course, this moment may be understated, but I digress.
Dwight Van Middlesworth 